THE 

AITEC 
T RE A/t RE  HCU/E 

THOMAS  A.  JANVIER 


Oi 


OO  CO 


o 
o 
0*0 

o 


15' 


>oooo  *o 

O 

o 


O  •€>  OoO 

'      O 


oo 


THE 

AZTEC 

TREASURE 

HOUSE 


WE  DISCOVERED  HOW  CONSIDERABLE   WAS  THE  CITY  THAT   HERE 
LAY  SUBMERGED 


¥ 

j     THEAITEE    I 
S  TREASURE  HOUSE  3 

FOR  BOYS. 
THOMAS  A.JANVIER 


/°3 


ILLUSTRATED 

BY 
BEN  KUTEHER 


HARPER  £r  BROTHERS— PUB1I5HERS 


The 

Aztec  Treasure  House 

Copyright,  1890,  by  Harper  &  Brothers 

Copyright,  1918,  by  Mrs.  Catherine  A.  Janvier 

Printed  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

H-D 


TO    C.A.J 


Departimiento  y  ha  entre  los  enganos. 
Catales  y  ha  que  son  buenos,  e  tales  que 
malos,  e  buenos  son  aquellos  que  los  omnes 
fazen  a  buena  fe  e  a  buena  intention. 

— ALONZO  EL  SABIO, 
Setena  Partida, 
Titulo  xvi.,  Ley  ii. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

We  Discovered  How  Considerable  Was  the  City  that 

Here  Lay  Submerged  Frontispiece 

When  a  Little  Calmness  Had  Returned  to  Me,  I  Took 

from  His  Breast  the  Bag  of  Skin  Page  16 

During  this  Period  We  Went  Forward  Steadily  and 

Rapidly  Pages  46-47 

"Indians!"  He  Gasped  Page  50 

There  Was  Another  Indian  Close  upon  Me  Page  56 

Young  Checked  Him  before  Harm  Was  Done  Page  57 

"Hurrah!"  Cried  Young.  "Here's  a  Way  Out"  Facing  p.  72 
Presently  He  Returned  and  Signalled  Us  to  Join  Him, 

but  to  Move  Cautiously  Page     78 

As  I  Looked  Through  the  Glass  I  Saw  that  What 

Rayburn  Had  Said  Was  True  Page  79 

And  Pablo  Succeeded  by  Dint  of  Much  Entreaty  in 

Inducing  El  Sabio  to  Board  It  Also  Page  83 

He  Took  a  Running  Start  and  Went  Swinging  over 

the  Abyss  Facing  p.  100 

Suddenly  a  Fast  Building  Loomed  Largely  Through 

the  Flying  Vapor  Page  108 

We  Descended  It  Joyfully  at  a  Swinging  Trot  Page  1 16 

"Come  Forth  to  Us!  Come  Forth  to  Us!"  He 

Cried  Page  120 

As  He  Pointed  to  Us  with  a  Commanding  Gesture, 

He  Asked,  Sharply,  Why  We  Had  Been  Allowed 

to  Retain  Our  Arms  Facing  p.  156 

"It's  a  Pity  We  Can't  Get  Photographed  Now,"  He 

Said  Page  199 

And  Then  We  Heard  the  Clash  of  Arms  Facing  p.  202 

"He's  Alive,  Rayburn/"  Page  209 

vii 


viii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

And  Then  with  a  Sudden  Jerk  Swayed  Backward 

Again,  and  So  Fell  Lifeless  Facing  p.  238 

As  We  Entered  Again  the  Treasure-chamber  There 

Was  within  Me  a  Strong  Feeling  of  Awe  Facing  p.  262 


Who'd  hear  great  marvels  told — 

Come  listen  now! 
Who  longs  for  hidden  gold — 

Come  listen  now/ 

Who  joys  in  well-fought  fghts, 

Who  yearns  for  wondrous  sights  f 

Who  pants  for  strange  delights — 

Come  listen  now! 

For  here  are  marvels  told 

To  listen  to  I 
Here  tales  of  hidden  gold 

To  listen  to! 

Here  gallant  men  wage  fights, 
Here  pass  most  wondrous  sights^ 
Here's  that  which  ear  delights 

To  listen  to  I 


THE 

AZTEC 

TREASIRE 

HOUSE 


Chapter  I 

MY  HEART  was  light  within  me  as  I  stood  on  the  steam 
er's  deck  in  the  cool  gray  of  an  October  morning,  and  saw 
out  across  the  dark  green  sea  and  the  dusky,  brownish  stretch 
of  coast  country  the  snow-crowned  peak  of  Orizaba  glinting  in 
the  first  rays  of  the  rising  sun.  And  presently,  as  the  sun  rose 
higher,  all  the  tropic  region  of  the  coast  and  the  brown  walls  of 
Vera  Cruz  and  of  its  outpost  fort  of  San  Juan  de  Ulua  were 
flooded  with  brilliant  light. 

And  still  lighter  was  my  heart,  a  week  later,  when  I  found 
myself  established  in  the  beautiful  city  of  Morelia,  and  ready 
to  begin  actively  the  work  for  which  I  had  been  preparing  my 
self  almost  all  my  life  long. 

Morelia,  I  had  decided,  was  the  best  base  for  the  operations 
that  I  was  about  to  undertake.  My  main  purpose  was  to  search 
for  the  remnants  of  primitive  civilization  among  the  more  iso 
lated  of  the  native  Indian  tribes;  and  out  of  the  fragments  thus 
found,  pieced  together  with  what  more  I  could  glean  from  the 
early  ecclesiastical  and  civil  records,  to  recreate,  so  far  as  this 
was  possible,  the  fabric  that  was  destroyed  by  the  Spanish  con 
querors.  Morelia  is  a  city  rich  in  ancient  records. 

From  a  fellow-archaeologist  in  the  City  of  Mexico  I  brought 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  director  of  the  Museo,  the  learned 
Dr.  Nicolas  Leon;  and  so  cordially  was  this  letter  worded,  and 
so  cordially  was  it  received,  that  within  the  day  of  my  coming 
into  that  strange  city  I  found  myself  in  the  midst  of  friends.  At 
once  their  hearts  and  their  houses  were  opened  to  me,  and  they 
gave  me  with  a  warm  enthusiasm  the  benefit  of  their  knowledge 
and  of  their  active  assistance  in  forwarding  the  work  that  I  had 
in  hand. 

In  the  quiet  retirement  of  the  Museo  I  opened  to  that  one 
of  its  members  to  whom  the  director  especially  had  commended 
me,  Don  Rafael  Moreno,  the  purposes  which  I  had  in  view,  and 
the  means  by  which  I  hoped  to  accomplish  them.  "Surely,"  I 

i 
\ 


2  THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

said,  "among  the  free  Indians  in  the  mountains  hereabouts  much 
may  be  found — in  customs,  in  tone  of  thought,  in  religion — that 
has  remained  unchanged  since  the  time  of  the  conquest." 

Don  Rafael  nodded.  "Fray  Antonio  has  said  as  much,"  he 
observed,  thoughtfully. 

"And  as  your  own  distinguished  countryman,  Sefior  Orozco  y 
Berra,  has  pointed  out,"  I  continued,  "many  dark  places  in 
primitive  history  may  be  made  clear,  many  illusions  may  be  dis 
pelled,  and  many  deeply  interesting  truths  may  be  gathered  by 
one  who  will  go  among  these  Indians,  lending  himself  to  their 
mode  of  life,  and  will  note  accurately  what  he  thus  learns  from 
sources  wholly  original." 

"Fray  Antonio  has  professed  the  same  belief,"  Don  Rafael 
answered.  "But  that  his  love  is  greater  for  the  saving  of  heathen 
souls  than  for  the  advancement  of  antiquarian  knowledge,  he 
long  ago  would  have  done  what  you  now  propose  to  do.  He 
has  done  much  towards  gathering  a  portion  of  the  informa 
tion  that  you  seek,  even  as  it  is." 

"And  who  is  this  Fray  Antonio,  senor?" 

"He  is  the  man  who  of  all  men  can  give  you  the  wisest  help 
in  your  present  need.  We  see  but  little  of  him  here  at  the 
Museo,  though  he  is  one  of  our  most  honored  members,  for  his 
time  is  devoted  so  wholly  to  the  godly  work  to  which  he  has  given 
himself  that  but  little  remains  to  him  to  use  in  other  ways.  He 
is  a  monk,  vowed  to  the  Rule  of  St.  Francis  and  has  the  charge  of 
the  church  of  San  Francisco— over  by  the  market-place,  you 
know — and  virtually  is  a  parish  priest.  He  is  a  religious  en 
thusiast.  In  God's  service  he  gives  himself  no  rest.  The  com 
mon  people  here,  since  his  loving  labors  among  them  while  the 
pestilence  of  small-pox  raged,  reverently  believed  him  to  be  a 
saint;  and  those  of  a  higher  class,  who  know  what  heroic  work 
he  did  in  that  dreadful  time,  are  disposed  to  hold  a  like  opinion. 
Truly,  it  is  by  the  especial  grace  of  God  that  men  like  Fray 
Antonio  are  permitted  at  times  to  dwell  upon  this  sinful  earth. 
But  that  which  is  of  most  interest  to  you,  senor,  is  the  knowledge 
that  Fray  Antonio  has  gained  of  our  native  Indians  during  his 
ministrations  among  them.  It  is  the  dearest  wish  of  his  heart  to 
carry  to  these  heathen  souls  the  saving  grace  of  Christianity, 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE  3 

and  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  good  purpose  he  makes  many 
journeys  into  the  mountains.  Very  often  his  life  has  been  in 
most  imminent  peril,  for  the  idolatrous  priests  of  the  moun 
tain  tribes  hate  him  with  a  most  bitter  hatred  because  of  the 
inroads  which  his  mild  creed  is  making  upon  the  cruel  creed 
which  they  uphold.  Yet  is  he  careless  of  the  danger  to  which 
he  exposes  himself;  and  there  be  those  who  believe,  such  is  the 
temerity  with  which  he  manifests  his  zeal,  that  he  rather  seeks 
than  shuns  a  martyr's  crown." 

Don  Rafael  paused,  and  it  was  evident  that  deep  feelings 
moved  him  as  he  spoke  of  the  holy  life  of  this  most  holy  man. 
"You  will  thus  understand,  sefior,"  he  went  on,  "that  Fray  An 
tonio  of  all  men  is  best  fitted  by  his  knowledge  of  the  ways  of 
these  mountain  Indians  to  advise  you  touching  your  going  among 
them  and  studying  them.  You  cannot  do  better  than  confer  with 
him  at  once.  It  is  but  a  step  to  the  church  of  San  Francisco. 
Let  us  go." 

What  Don  Rafael  had  said  had  opened  new  horizons  to  me, 
and  I  was  stirred  by  strange  feelings  as  we  passed  out  together 
from  the  shady  silence  of  the  Museo  into  the  bright  silence  of 
the  streets:  for  Morelia  is  a  quiet  city,  wherein  at  all  times  is 
gentleness  and  rest.  We  turned  off  from  the  Calle  Principal  by 
the  little  old  church  of  La  Cruz,  and  passed  onward  across  the 
market-place,  where  buying  and  selling  went  on  languidly,  and 
where  a  drowsy  hum  of  talk  made  a  rhythmic  setting  to  a  scene 
that  seemed  to  my  unaccustomed  eyes  less  a  bit  of  real  life  than 
a  bit  lifted  bodily  from  an  opera.  Facing  the  market-place  was 
the  ancient  church;  and  the  change  was  a  pleasant  one,  from 
the  vivid  sunlight  and  warmth  of  the  streets  to  its  cool,  shad 
owy  interior :  where  the  only  sign  of  life  was  a  single  old  woman, 
her  head  muffled  in  her  rebozo,  praying  her  way  along  the  Sta 
tions  of  the  Cross. 

We  crossed  to  the  eastern  end  of  the  church,  where  was  a  low 
door-way,  closed  by  a  heavy  wooden  door  that  was  studded  with 
rough  iron  nails  and  ornamented  with  rudely  finished  iron-work; 
pushing  which  door  open  briskly,  as  one  having  the  assured  right 
of  entry  there,  Don  Rafael  courteously  stood  aside  and  motioned 
to  me  to  enter  the  sacristy. 


4  THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

From  the  shadowy  church  I  passed  at  a  step  into  a  small 
vaulted  room  brilliant  with  the  sunlight  that  poured  into  it 
through  a  broad  window  that  faced  the  south.  Just  where  this 
flood  of  sunshine  fell  upon  the  flagged  floor,  rising  from  a  base 
of  stone  steps  built  up  in  pyramidal  form,  was  a  large  cross  of 
some  dark  wood,  on  which  was  the  life-size  figure  of  the  crucified 
Christ;  and  there,  on  the  bare  stone  pavement  before  this  em 
blem  of  his  faith,  his  face,  on  which  the  sunlight  fell  full,  turned 
upward  towards  the  holy  image,  and  his  arms  raised  in  supplica 
tion,  clad  in  his  Franciscan  habit,  of  which  the  hood  had  fallen 
back,  knelt  Fray  Antonio ;  and  upon  his  pale,  holy  face,  that  the 


rich  sunlight  glorified,  was  an  expression  so  seraphic,  so  en 
tranced,  that  it  seemed  as  though  to  his  fervent  gaze  the  very 
gates  of  heaven  must  be  open,  and  all  the  splendors  and  glories 
and  majesties  of  paradise  revealed. 

It  is  as  I  thus  first  saw  Fray  Antonio — verily  a  saint  kneeling 
before  the  cross — that  I  strive  to  think  of  him  always.  Yet  even 
when  that  other  and  darker,  but  surely  more  glorious,  picture  of 
him  rises  before  my  mind  I  am  not  disconsolate;  for  at  such 
times  the  thought  possesses  me  that  what  he  prayed  for  at  the 
moment  when  I  beheld  him  was  that  which  God  granted  to  him  in 
the  end. 

Some  men  being  thus  broken  in  upon  while  in  the  very  act  of 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE  5 

communing  with  Heaven  would  have  been  distressed  and  ill  at 
ease.  But  to  Fray  Antonio,  as  I  truly  believe,  communion  with 
Heaven  was  so  entirely  a  part  of  his  daily  life  that  our  sudden 
entry  in  nowise  ruffled  him.  After  a  moment,  that  he  might 
recall  his  thoughts  within  himself  and  so  to  earth  again,  he  arose 
from  his  knees,  and  with  a  grave,  simple  grace  came  forward 
to  greet  us.  He  was  not  more  than  eight-and-twenty  years  old, 
and  he  was  slightly  built  and  thin.  His  face  still  had  in  it  the 
soft  roundness  and  tenderness  of  youth,  that  accorded  well 
with  its  expression  of  gracious  sweetness;  but  there  was  a  firm 
ness  about  the  fine,  strong  chin,  and  in  the  set  of  the  delicate 
lips,  that  showed  a  reserve  and  masterful  strength.  And  most  of 
all  did  this  strength  shine  forth  from  his  eyes;  which,  truly, 
though  at  this  first  sight  of  him  I  did  not  perceive  it  fully,  were 
the  most  wonderful  eyes  that  ever  I  have  seen. 

Don  Rafael,  standing  without  the  door  that  he  had  opened  in 
order  that  I  might  precede  him,  did  not  perceive  that  we  had  in 
terrupted  Fray  Antonio  in  his  prayers;  and  began,  therefore, 
in  the  lively  manner  natural  to  him,  when  I  had  been  in  due  form 
presented  as  an  American  archaeologist  come  to  Mexico  to  pur 
sue  my  studies  of  its  primitive  inhabitants,  to  commend  the  un 
dertaking  that  I  had  in  hand,  and  to  ask  of  Fray  Antonio  the  aid 
in  prosecuting  it  that  he  so  well  could  give. 

Perhaps  it  was  that  Fray  Antonio  understood  how  wholly 
my  heart  already  had  gone  out  to  him,  and  so  was  disposed  in 
some  instinctive  way  to  join  his  purposes  with  mine;  but,  be  this 
as  it  may,  before  Don  Rafael  well  could  finish  the  explanation 
of  my  wishes,  Fray  Antonio  had  comprehended  what  I  desired, 
and  had  promised  to  give  me  his  aid. 

"The  senor  already  has  a  book-knowledge  of  our  native 
tongues.  That  is  well.  The  speaking  knowledge  will  come 
easily.  He  shall  have  the  boy  Pablo  for  his  servant.  A  good 
boy  is  Pablo.  With  him  he  can  talk  in  the  Nahua  dialect — 
which  is  the  most  important,  for  it  is  sprung  most  directly  from 
the  ancient  stock.  And  I  will  arrange  that  the  senor  shall  live 
for  a  time  in  the  mountains — it  will  be  a  hard  life,  I  fear — at 
Santa  Maria  and  at  San  Andres,  in  which  villages  he  can  gain 
a  mouth-mastery  of  both  Otomi  and  Tarascan.  A  little  time 


6  THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

must  be  given  to  all  this — some  months,  no  doubt.  But  the  senor, 
who  already  has  studied  through  ten  years,  will  understand  the 
needfulness  of  this  short  discipline.  To  a  true  student  study 
in  itself  is  a  delight — still  more  that  study  which  makes  the  reali 
zation  of  a  long-cherished  purpose  possible.  The  senor,  I  know, 
reads  Spanish,  since  so  perfectly  he  speaks  it" — this  with  a 
gracious  movement  of  the  hands  and  a  courteous  inclination  of 
the  body  that  enhanced  the  value  of  the  compliment — "but  does 
the  senor  read  with  ease  our  ancient  Spanish  script?" 

"I  have  never  attempted  it,"  I  answered.  "But  as  I  can 
read  easily  the  old  printed  Spanish,  I  suppose,"  I  added,  a  little 
airily,  "that  I  shall  have  no  great  difficulty  in  reading  the  old 
script  also." 

Fray  Antonio  smiled  a  little  as  he  glanced  at  Don  Rafael, 
who  smiled  also,  and  as  he  turned  out  his  hands,  answered: 
"Perhaps.  But  it  is  not  quite  the  same  as  print,  as  the  senor  will 
know  when  he  tries.  But  it  makes  no  difference;  for  what  is 
most  interesting  in  our  archives  I  shall  be  glad — and  so  also 
will  be  Don  Rafael — to  aid  him  in  reading. 

"You  must  know,  senor,"  he  went  on,  dropping  his  formal 
mode  of  address  as  his  interest  in  the  subject  augmented,  and 
as  his  feeling  towards  me  grew  warmer,  "that  many  precious 
documents  are  here  preserved.  In  modern  times,  during  the 
last  hundred  years  or  more,  but  little  thought  has  been  given  to 
the  care  of  these  old  papers — which  are  so  precious  to  such  as 
Don  Rafael  and  yourself  because  of  their  antiquarian  value,  and 
which  are  still  more  precious  to  me  because  they  tell  of  the 
sowing  among  the  heathen  of  the  seed  of  God's  own  Word.  In 
the  little  time  that  I  myself  can  give  to  such  matters  I  already 
have  found  many  manuscripts  which  cast  new  and  curious  light 
upon  the  strange  people  who  dwelt  here  in  Mexico  before  the 
Spaniards  came.  Some  of  these  I  will  send  for  your  examination, 
for  they  will  prepare  you  for  the  work  you  have  in  contemplation 
by  giving  you  useful  knowledge  of  primitive  modes  of  life  and 
tones  of  faith  and  phases  of  thought.  And  while  you  are  in  the 
mountains,  at  Santa  Maria  and  San  Andres,  I  will  make  further 
searches  in  our  archives,  and  what  I  find  you  shall  see  upon  your 
return. 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE  7 

"With  your  permission,  sefiores,  I  must  now  go  about  my 
work.  Don  Rafael  knows  that  I  am  much  too  ready  to  forget 
my  work  in  talk  of  ancient  matters.  It  is  a  weakness  with  me — 
this  love  for  the  study  of  antiquity — that  I  struggle  against,  but 
that  seems  rather  to  increase  upon  me  than  to  be  overcome.  This 
afternoon,  senor,  I  will  send  a  few  of  the  ancient  manuscripts 
to  you.  And  so — until  we  meet  again." 


Chapter  II 

FRAY  ANTONIO  punctually  fulfilled  his  promise  in  regard 
to  the  manuscripts,  and  I  had  but  to  glance  at  them  in 
order  to  understand  the  smile  that  he  had  interchanged  with  Don 
Rafael  when  I  so  airily  had  expressed  my  confidence  in  my  ability 
to  read  them.  What  with  the  curious,  involved  formation  of 
the  several  letters,  the  extraordinary  abbreviations,  the  antique 
spelling,  the  strange  forms  of  expression,  and  the  use  of  obsolete 
words  I  could  not  make  sense  of  so  much  as  a  single  line.  Yet 
when,  being  forced  into  inglorious  surrender,  I  carried  the  manu 
scripts  to  the  Museo,  and  appealed  to  Don  Rafael  for  assistance, 
he  read  to  me  in  fluent  Spanish  all  that  I  had  found  so  utterly 
incomprehensible.  "It  is  only  a  knack,"  he  explained.  "A  little 
time  and  patience  are  required  at  first,  but  then  all  comes  easily." 
But  Don  Rafael  did  here  injustice  to  his  own  scholarship.  More 
than  a  little  time  and  patience  have  I  since  given  to  the  study  of 
ancient  Spanish  script,  and  I  am  even  yet  very  far  from  being  an 
expert  in  the  reading  of  it. 

In  regard  to  the  other  promise  that  Fray  Antonio  made  me — 
that  he  would  send  me  a  servant  who  also  would  serve  as  a  prac 
tical  instructor  in  the  Nahua,  or  Aztec,  dialect — he  was  equally 
punctual.  While  I  was  taking,  in  my  bedroom,  my  first  breakfast 
of  bread  and  coffee  the  morning  following  my  visit  to  the  church 
of  San  Francisco,  I  heard  a  faint  sound  of  music.  Gradually  the 
playing  grew  more  assured;  until  it  ended  in  an  accurate  and 
spirited  rendering  of  the  air.  With  this  triumph,  the  volume  of 
the  sound  increased  greatly;  and  from  its  tones  I  inferred  that 
the  instrument  was  a  concertina,  and  that  whoever  played  it 
was  in  the  inner  court-yard  of  the  hotel.  Suddenly,  in  the  midst 
of  the  music,  there  sounded — and  this  sound  unmistakably  came 
from  the  hotel  court-yard — the  prodigious  braying  of  an  ass; 
and  accompanying  this  came  the  soft  sound  of  bare  feet  hurrying 
away  down  the  passage  from  near  my  door. 

I  opened  the  door  and  looked  out,  but  the  passage  was  empty. 

8 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE  9 

The  gallery  overlooked  the  court-yard,  and  stepping  to  the  edge 
of  the  low  stone  railing,  I  beheld  a  sight  that  I  never  recall  with 
out  a  feeling  of  warm  tenderness.  Almost  directly  beneath  me 
stood  a  small  gray  ass,  a  very  delicately  shaped  and  perfect  little 
animal,  with  a  coat  of  most  extraordinary  length  and  fuzziness, 
and  with  ears  of  a  truly  prodigious  size.  His  head  was  raised, 
and  his  great  ears  were  pricked  forward  in  a  fashion  which  indi 
cated  that  he  was  most  intently  listening;  and  upon  his  face  was 
an  expression  of  such  benevolent  sweetness,  joined  to  such 
thoughtfulness  and  meditative  wisdom,  that  in  my  heart  there 
sprung  up  in  a  moment  a  real  love  for  him.  Suddenly  he  lowered 
his  head,  and  turned  eagerly  his  regard  towards  the  corner  of 
the  court-yard  where  descended  the  stair-way  from  the  gallery 
on  which  I  stood;  and  from  this  quarter  came  towards  him  a 
smiling,  pleasant-faced  Indian  lad  of  eighteen  or  twenty  years 
old,  whose  dress  was  a  cotton  shirt  and  cotton  trousers,  whose 
feet  were  bare,  and  on  whose  head  was  a  Battered  hat  of  straw. 
And  as  the  ass  saw  the  boy,  he  strained  at  the  cord  that  tethered 
him  and  gave  another  mighty  bray. 

"Dost  thou  call  me,  Wise  One?"  said  the  boy,  speaking  in 
Spanish.  "Truly  this  Senor  Americano  is  a  lazy  senor,  that  he 
rises  so  late,  and  keeps  us  waiting  for  his  coming  so  long.  But 
patience,  Wise  One.  The  Padre  says  that  he  is  a  good  gentle 
man,  in  whose  service  we  shall  be  treated  as  though  we  were 
kings.  No  doubt  I  now  can  buy  my  rain-coat.  And  thou,  Wise 
One — thou  shalt  have  beans !" 

And  being  by  this  time  come  to  the  ass,  the  boy  enfolded  in 
his  arms  the  creature's  fuzzy  head  and  gently  stroked  its  preter- 
naturally  long  ears.  And  the  ass,  for  its  part,  responded  to  the 
caress  by  rubbing  its  head  against  the  boy's  breast  and  by  most 
energetically  twitching  its  scrag  of  a  tail.  Thus  for  a  little  time 
these  friends  manifested  for  each  other  their  affection;  and  then 
the  boy  seated  himself  on  the  pavement  beside  the  ass  and  drew 
forth  from  his  pocket  a  large  mouth-organ — on  which  he  went 
to  work  with  such  a  will  that  all  the  court-yard  rang  with  the 
strains  of  Offenbach's  music. 

It  was  plain  from  what  he  had  said  that  this  was  the  boy 
whom  Fray  Antonio  had  promised  to  send  to  me ;  and  notwith- 


io          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

standing  his  uncomplimentary  comments  upon  my  laziness,  I  had 
taken  already  a  strong  liking  to  him.  I  waited  until  he  had 
played  through  the  sabre  song  again — to  which,  as  it  seemed 
to  me,  the  ass  listened  with  a  slightly  critical  yet  pleased  atten 
tion — and"  then  I  hailed  him. 

"The  lazy  Senor  Americano  is  awake  at  last,  Pablo,"  I  called. 
"Come  up  hither,  and  we  will  talk  about  the  buying  of  thy  rain 
coat,  and  about  the  buying  of  the  Wise  One's  beans." 

The  boy  jumped  up  as  though  a  spring  had  been  let  loose 
beneath  him,  and  his  shame  and  confusion  were  so  great  I  was 
sorry  enough  that  I  had  made  my  little  joke  upon  him. 

"It  is  all  right,  my  child,"  I  said,  quickly,  and  with  all  the 
kindness  that  I  could  put  into  my  tones.  "Thou  wert  talking 


to  the  Wise  One,  not  to  me — and  I  have  forgotten  all  that  I 
heard.  Thou  art  come  from  Fray  Antonio?" 

"Yes,  senor,"  he  answered;  and  as  he  saw  by  my  smiling  that 
no  harm  had  been  done,  he  also  smiled;  and  so  honest  and 
kindly  was  the  lad's  face  that  I  liked  him  more  and  more. 

"Patience  for  yet  a  little  longer,  Wise  One,"  he  said,  turning 
to  the  ass,  who  gravely  wagged  his  ears  in  answer.  And  then 
the  boy  came  up  the  stair  to  the  gallery,  and  so  we  went  to  my 
room  that  I  might  have  talk  with  him. 

It  was  not  much  that  Pablo  had  to  tell  about  himself.  He  was 
a  Guadalajara  lad,  born  in  the  Indian  suburb  of  Mexicalcingo— 
as  his  musical  taste  might  have  told  me  had  I  known  more  of 
Mexico — who  had  drifted  out  into  the  world  to  seek  his  fortune. 
His  capital  was  the  ass — so  wise  an  ass  that  he  had  named  him 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          1 1 

El  Sabio.  "He  knows  each  word  that  I  speak  to  him,  sefior," 
said  Pablo,  earnestly.  "And  when  he  hears,  even  a  long  way  off, 
the  music  that  I  make  upon  the  little  instrument,  he  knows  that 
it  is  from  me  the  music  comes,  and  calls  to  me.  And  he  loves 
me,  senor,  as  though  he  were  my  brother;  and  he  knows  that 
with  the  same  tenderness  I  also  love  him.  It  was  the  good  Padre 
who  gave  him  to  me.  God  rest  and  bless  him  always  1"  This 
pious  wish,  I  inferred,  related  not  to  the  ass  but  to  Fray  Antonio. 

"And  how  dost  thou  live,  Pablo?"  I  asked. 

"By  bringing  water  from  the  Spring  of  the  Holy  Children, 
senor.  It  is  two  leagues  away,  the  Ojo  de  los  Santos  Ninos, 
and  El  Sabio  and  I  make  thither  two  journeys  daily.  We  bring 
back  each  time  four  jars  of  water,  which  we  sell  here  in  the  city 
— for  it  is  very  good,  sweet  water — at  three  tlacos  the  jar.  You 
see,  I  make  a  great  deal  of  money,  senor — three  reales  a  day!  If 
it  were  not  for  one  single  thing,  I  should  soon  be  rich." 

That  riches  could  be  acquired  rapidly  on  a  basis  of  about 
twenty-seven  cents,  in  our  currency,  a  day  struck  me  as  a  novel 
notion.  But  I  inquired,  gravely:  "And  this  one  thing  that 
hinders  thee  from  getting  rich,  Pablo,  what  is  it?" 

"It  is  that  I  eat  so  much,  senor,"  Pablo  answered,  ruefully. 
"Truly  it  seems  as  though  this  belly  of  mine  never  could  be  filled. 
And  I  am  trying  so  hard  to  save  just  now,  for  before  the  next 
rainy  season  comes  I  want  to  own  a  rain-coat.  But  for  a  good 
one  I  must  pay  seven  reales.  The  price  is  vast." 

"What  is  a  rain-coat,  Pablo?" 

"The  senor  does  not  know?  That  is  strange.  It  is  a  coat 
woven  of  palm  leaves,  so  that  all  over  one  it  is  as  a  thatch  that 
the  rain  cannot  come  through.  What  I  was  saying  just  now  to 

El  Sabio "  Pablo  stopped  suddenly,  and  turned  aside  from 

me  in  a  shamefaced  way,  as  he  remembered  what  he  also  had 
said  to  El  Sabio  about  my  laziness. 

" — Was  that  out  of  the  wages  I  am  to  pay  thee  thou  canst 
save  enough  money  to  buy  thy  coat  with,"  I  said,  quickly,  wishing 
to  rid  him  of  his  confusion.  And  then  we  fell  to  talking  of  what 
these  wages  should  be,  and  of  how  he  was  to  help  me  to  gain 
a  speaking  knowledge  of  his  native  tongue — for  so  far  we  had 
spoken  Spanish  together — and  of  what  in  general  would  be  his 


12          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

duties  as  my  servant.  That  El  Sabio  could  be  anything  but  a 
part  of  the  contract  seemed  never  to  cross  Pablo's  mind;  and 
so  presently  our  terms  were  concluded,  and  I  found  myself  occu 
pying  the  responsible  relation  of  master  to  a  mouth-organ  playing 
boy  and  an  extraordinarily  wise  ass.  It  was  arranged  that  both 
of  these  dependants  of  mine  should  accompany  me  in  my  expedi 
tion  to  the  Indian  villages;  and  to  clinch  our  bargain  I  gave 
Pablo  the  seven  reales  wherewith  to  buy  his  rain-coat  on  the  spot. 

I  was  a  little  surprised,  two  days  later,  when  we  started  from 
Morelia  on  our  journey  into  the  mountains  to  the  westward,  to 
find  that  'Pablo  had  not  bought  his  much-desired  garment; 
though,  to  be  sure,  as  the  rainy  season  still  was  a  long  way  off, 
there  was  no  need  for  it.  He  hesitated  a  little  when  I  questioned 
him  about  it,  and  then,  in  a  very  apologetic  tone,  said :  "Perhaps 
the  sefior  will  forgive  me  for  doing  so  ill  with  his  money.  But 
indeed  I  could  not  help  it.  There  is  an  old  man,  his  name  is 
Juan,  sefior,  who  has  been  very  good  to  me  many  times.  He  has 
given  me  things  to  put  into  this  wretchedly  big  belly  of  mine; 
and  when  I  broke  one  of  my  jars  he  lent  me  the  money  to  buy 
another  with,  and  would  take  from  me  again  only  what  the 
jar  cost  and  no  more.  Just  now  this  old  man  is  sick — it  is  rheu 
matism,  sefior — and  he  has  no  money  at  all,  and  he  and  his  wife 
have  not  much  to  eat,  and  I  know  what  pain  that  is.  And  so — 

and  so Will  the  senor  forgive  me?  I  do  not  need  the 

rain-coat  now,  the  sefior  understands.  And  so  I  gave  Juan  the 
seven  reales,  which  he  will  pay  me  when  he  gets  well  and  works 

again ;  and  should  he  die  and  not  pay  me •  Does  the  sefior 

know  what  I  have  been  thinking?  It  is  that  rain-coats  really  are 
not  very  needful  things,  after  all.  Without  them  one  gets  wet, 
it  is  true;  but  then  one  soon  gets  dry  again.  But  truly" — and 
there  was  a  sudden  catching  in  Pablo's  throat  that  was  very  like 
a  sob — "truly  I  did  want  one." 

When  PaBlo  had  told  this  little  story  I  did  not  wonder  at  the 
esteem  in  which  Fray  Antonio  held  him,  and  from  that  time  on 
ward  he  had  a  very  warm  place  in  my  heart.  Of  his  qualities  as  a 
servant  I  had  a  good  trial  during  the  two  months  that  we  were 
together  in  the  mountains — in  which  time  I  got  enough  working 
knowledge  of  the  Indian  dialects  to  make  effective  the  knowledge 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          13 

that  I  had  gained  from  books — and  I  was  amazed  by  the  quick 
ness  that  he  manifested  in  apprehending  and  in  supplying  my 
wants  and  in  understanding  my  ways. 

As  to  making  any  serious  study  of  Indian  customs — save  only 
those  of  the  most  open  and  well-known  sort — in  this  short  time, 
I  soon  perceived  that  the  case  was  quite  hopeless.  Coming  from 
Fray  Antonio,  whose  benevolent  ministrations  among  them  had 
won  their  friendship,  the  Indians  treated  me  with  a  great  respect 
and  showed  me  every  kindness.  But  I  presently  began  to  suspect, 
and  this  later  grew  to  be  conviction,  that  because  my  credentials 
came  from  a  Christian  priest  I  was  thrust  away  all  the  more 
resolutely  from  knowledge  of  their  inner  life. 

Indeed,  but  for  an  accident,  I  should  have  returned  to  Morelia 
no  wiser,  practically,  than  when  I  left  it;  but  by  that  turn  of 
chance  fortune  most  wonderfully  favored  me,  and  with  far- 
reaching  consequences.  It  was  on  the  last  afternoon  of  my 
stay  in  the  village  of  Santa  Maria;  and  the  beginning  of  my 
good  luck  was  that  I  succeeded  in  walking  out  upon  the  moun 
tain-side  alone.  My  walk  had  a  decided  purpose  in  it,  for  each 
time  that  I  had  tried  to  go  in  this  direction  one  or  another  of 
the  Indians  had  been  quickly  upon  my  heels  with  some  civil 
excuse  about  the  danger  of  falling  among  the  rocks  for  leading 
me  another  way.  How  I  thus  succeeded  at  last  in  escaping  from 
so  many  watchful  eyes  I  cannot  say,  but  luck  was  with  me,  and 
I  went  on  undisturbed.  The  sharply  sloping  mountain-side,  very 
wild  and  rugged,  was  strewn  with  great  fragments  of  rock  which 
had  fallen  from  the  heights  above,  and  which,  lying  there  for 
ages  beneath  the  trees,  had  come  to  be  moss-grown  and  half 
hidden  by  bushes  and  fallen  leaves.  In  the  dim  light  that  filtered 
through  the  branches,  walking  in  so  uncertain  a  place  was 
attended  with  a  good  deal  of  danger.  Indeed,  so  ticklish  did  I 
find  my  way  that  I  began  to  think  that  the  Indians  had  spoken 
no  more  than  the  simple  truth  in  warning  me  against  such 
dangers,  and  that  I  had  better  turn  again  while  light  remained 
to  bring  me  back  in  safety;  and  just  as  I  had  reached  this  wise 
conclusion  my  feet  slid  suddenly  from  under  me  on  the  very 
edge  of  one  of  the  ledges,  and  over  I  went  into  the  depth  below. 

Fortunately  I  fell  not  more  than  a  dozen  feet  or  so,  and  my 


i4          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

fall  was  broken  by  a  friendly  bed  of  leaves  and  moss.  When  I 
got  to  my  feet  again,  in  a  moment,  I  found  myself  in  a  narrow 
cleft  in  the  rocks,  and  I  was  surprised  to  see  that  through  this 
cleft  ran  a  well-worn  path.  All  thought  of  the  danger  that  I 
had  just  escaped  from  so  narrowly  was  banished  from  my  mind 
instantly  as  I  made  this  discovery;  and  full  of  the  exciting  hope 
that  I  was  about  to  find  something  which  the  Indians  most 
earnestly  desired  to  conceal,  I  went  rapidly  and  easily  onward 
in  the  direction  that  I  had  been  pressing  towards  with  so  much 
difficulty  along  the  rocky  mountain-side.  The  course  of  this 
sunken  path,  I  soon  perceived,  was  partly  natural  and  partly 
artificial.  So  cleverly  was  the  concealment  effected,  the  way  so 
narrow  and  so  irregular,  that  I  verily  believe  an  army  might 
have  scoured  that  mountain-side  and  never  found  the  path  at  all, 
save  by  such  accident  as  had  brought  me  into  it. 

For  half  a  mile  or  more  I  went  on  in  the  waning  light,  my 
heart  throbbing  with  the  excitement  of  it  all,  and  so  came  out 
at  last  upon  a  vast  jutting  promontory  of  rocks  that  was  thrust 
forth  from  the  mountain's  face  eastwardly.  Here  was  an  open 
space  of  an  acre  or  more,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  a  low,  altar- 
like  structure  of  stone.  At  the  end  of  the  narrow  path,  being 
still  within  its  shelter,  I  stopped  to  make  a  careful  survey  of  the 
ground  before  me;  for  I  realized  that  in  what  I  was  doing  Death 
stood  close  at  my  elbow,  and  that,  unless  I  acted  warily,  he 
surely  would  have  me  in  his  grasp.  Coming  out  of  the  shadows 
of  the  woods  and  the  deeper  shadows  of  the  sunken  path  to  this 
wide  open  space,  where  the  light  of  the  brilliant  sunset  was 
reflected  strongly  from  masses  of  rosy  clouds  over  all  the  eastern 
sky,  I  could  see  clearly.  In  the  midst  of  the  opening,  not  far 
from  the  edge  of  the  stupendous  precipice,  where  the  bare  rock 
dropped  sheer  down  a  thousand  feet  or  more,  was  a  huge  bowl 
der  that  had  been  cut  and  squared  with  ineffective  tools  into  the 
rude  semblance  of  a  mighty  altar.  The  well-worn  path  along 
which  I  had  come  told  the  rest  of  the  story.  Here  was  the 
temple,  having  for  its  roof  the  great  arch  of  heaven,  in  which 
the  Indians,  whom  the  gentle  Fray  Antonio  believed  to  be  such 
good  Christians,  truly  worshipped  their  true  gods ;  even  as  here 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          15 

their  fathers  had  worshipped  before  them  in  the  very  dawning 
of  the  ancient  past. 

A  tremor  of  joy  went  through  me  as  I  realized  what  I  had 
found.  Here  was  positive  proof  of  what  I  had  strongly  but  not 
surely  hoped  for.  The  Aztec  faith  truly  was  still  a  living  faith; 
and  it  followed  almost  certainly  that,  could  I  but  penetrate  the 
mystery  with  which  it  was  hedged  about  so  carefully  by  them 
still  faithful  to  it,  I  would  find  all  that  I  sought — of  living  cus 
toms,  of  coherent  traditions — wherewith  to  exhibit  clearly  to  the 
world  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  wonderful  social  and  reli 
gious  structure  that  the  Spaniards  of  the  sixteenth  century  had 
blotted  out,  but  had  not  destroyed.  What  my  fellow-archaeolo 
gists  had  accomplished  in  Syria,  in  Egypt,  in  Greece,  was  nothing 
to  what  I  could  thus  accomplish  in  Mexico. 

As  I  stood  there  in  the  dusk  of  the  narrow  pathway,  while 
the  joy  that  was  in  my  heart  swelled  it  almost  to  bursting,  there 
came  to  my  ears  the  low  moaning  of  one  in  pain.  The  faint, 
uncertain  sound  seemed  to  come  from  the  direction  of  the  great 
stone  altar.  To  discover  myself  in  that  place  to  any  of  the 
Indians,  I  knew  would  end  my  archaeological  ambition  very  sum 
marily  ;  yet  was  I  moved  by  a  natural  desire  to  aid  whoever  thus 
was  hurt  and  suffering.  I  stood  irresolute  a  moment,  and  then, 
as  the  moaning  came  to  me  again,  I  went  out  boldly  into  the 
open  space,  and  crossed  it  to  where  the  altar  was.  As  I  rounded 
the  great  stone  I  saw  a  very  grievous  sight:  an  old  man  lying 
upon  the  bare  rock,  a  great  gash  in  his  forehead  from  which  the 
blood  had  flowed  down  over  his  face  and  breast,  making  him  a 
most  ghastly  object  to  look  upon;  and  there  was  about  him  a 
certain  limpness  that  told  of  many  broken  bones.  He  turned  his 
head  at  the  sound  of  my  footsteps,  but  it  was  plain  that  the  blood 
flowing  into  his  eyes  had  blinded  him,  and  that  he  could  not 
see  me.  He  made  a  feeble  motion  to  clear  his  eyes,  but  dropped 
his  partly  raised  arm  suddenly  and  with  a  moan  of  pain.  I 
recognized  him  at  a  glance.  He  was  the  Cacique,  the  chief,  and 
also,  as  I  had  shrewdly  guessed,  the  priest  of  the  village — the 
very  last  person  whom  I  would  have  desired  to  meet  in  that  place. 

"Ah,  thou  art  come  to  me  at  last,  Benito  I"  he  said,  speaking 
in  a  low  and  broken  voice.  "I  have  been  praying  to  our  gods 


i6          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

that  they  would  send  thee  to  me — for  my  death  has  come,  and 
it  is  needful  that  the  one  secret  still  hidden  from  thee,  my  suc- 


WHEN  A  LITTLE  CALMNESS  HAD  RETURNED  TO  ME,  I  TOOK  FROM 
HIS  BREAST  THE  BAG  OF  SKIN 

cessor,  should  be  told.    I  was  on  the  altar's  top,  and  thence  I 
fell." 

I  perceived  in  what  the  Cacique  said  that  there  was  hope 
for  me.    He  could  not  see  me,  and  he  evidently  believed  that  I 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          17 

was  the  second  chief  of  the  village,  Benito— an  Indian  who  had 
talked  much  with  me,  and  the  tones  of  whose  voice  I  knew  well. 
Doubtless  my  clumsy  attempt  to  simulate  the  Indian's  speech 
would  have  been  detected  quickly  under  other  circumstances,  but 
the  Cacique  believed  that  no  other  man  could  have  come  to  him 
in  that  place ;  and  his  whole  body  was  wrung  with  torturing  pains, 
and  he  was  in  the  very  article  of  death.  And  so  it  was,  my  pru 
dence  leading  me  to  speak  few  and  simple  words,  and  my  good- 
luck  still  standing  by  me,  he  never  guessed  whose  hands  in  his 
last  moments  ministered  to  him. 

As  I  raised  his  head  a  little  and  rested  it  upon  my  knee,  he 
spoke  again,  very  feebly  and  brokenly:  "On  my  breast  is  the 
bag  of  skin.  In  it  is  the  Priest-Captain's  token,  and  the  paper 
that  shows  the  way  to  where  the  stronghold  of  our  race  remains. 
Only  with  me  abides  this  secret,  for  I  am  of  the  ancient  house, 
as  thou  art  also,  whence  sprung  of  old  our  priests  and  kings. 
Only  when  the  sign  that  I  have  told  thee  of — but  telling  thee 
not  its  meaning — comes  from  heaven,  is  the  token  to  be  sent,  and 
with  it  the  call  for  aid.  Once,  as  thou  knowest,  that  sign  came, 
and  the  messenger,  our  own  ancestor,  departed.  But  there  was 
anger  then  against  us  among  the  gods,  and  they  suffered  not  his 
message  to  be  delivered,  and  he  himself  was  slain.  Yet  was  the 
token  preserved  to  us,  and  yet  again  the  sign  from  heaven  will 

come.  And  then — thou  knowest "  But  here  a  shiver  of 

pain  went  through  him,  and  his  speech  gave  place  to  agonizing 
moans.  When  he  spoke  again  his  words  were  but  a  whisper. 
"Lay  me — in  front  of — the  altar,"  he  said.  "Now  is  the  end." 

"But  the  sign?  What  is  it?  And  where  is  the  stronghold?" 
I  cried  eagerly;  forgetting  in  the  intense  excitement  of  this 
strange  disclosure  my  need  for  reticence,  and  forgetting  even  to 
disguise  my  voice.  But  my  imprudence  cost  me  nothing.  Even 
as  I  spoke  another  shiver  went  through  the  Cacique's  body ;  and 
as  there  came  from  his  lips,  thereafter  forever  to  be  silent,  a 
sound,  half  moan,  half  gasp,  his  soul  went  out  from  him,  and 
he  was  at  rest. 

When  a  little  calmness  had  returned  to  me,  I  took  from  his 
breast  the  bag  of  skin — stained  darkly  where  his  blood  had 
flowed  upon  it — and  then  tenderly  and  reverently  lifted  his  poor 


1 8          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

mangled  body  and  laid  it  before  the  altar.  And  so  I  came  back 
along  the  hidden  path,  safely  and  unperceived,  to  the  village: 
leaving  the  dead  Cacique  there  in  the  solemn  solitude  of  that 
great  mountain-top,  whereon  the  dusk  of  night  was  gathering, 
alone  in  death  before  the  altar  of  his  gods. 


Chapter  III 

WHEN  Pablo  and  I  started,  the  day  following,  upon  our 
return  to  Morelia,  the  village  of  Santa  Maria  was  over 
cast  with  mourning.  The  Cacique  was  dead,  they  told  us;  had 
fallen  among  the  rocks  on  the  mountain-side,  being  an  old  man 
and  feeble,  and  so  was  killed.  And  I  was  expressly  charged  with 
a  message  to  the  good  Padre,  begging  him  to  hasten  to  Santa 
Maria  that  the  dead  man  might  have  Christian  burial.  I  con 
fess  that  I  found  this  request,  though  I  promised  faithfully  to 
comply  with  it,  highly  amusing;  for  I  knew  beyond  the  possi 
bility  of  a  doubt  that  if  ever  a  man  died  a  most  earnest  and 
devout  heathen  it  was  this  same  Cacique  for  whom  Christian 
burial  was  sought;  and  I  felt  an  assured  conviction  that  when 
the  services  of  the  Church  over  him  were  ended — and  whatever 
good  was  to  be  had  for  him  from  them  secured — he  would  be 
buried  fittingly  with  all  the  fulness  of  his  own  heathen  rites.  But 
this  matter,  lying  in  what  I  already  perceived  to  be  the  very  wide 
region  between  the  avowed  faith  and  the  hidden  faith  of  the 
Indians,  was  no  concern  of  mine;  yet  I  longed,  as  only  a  thor 
oughly  earnest  archaeologist  could  long,  to  be  a  witness  of  the 
funeral  ceremony  in  which  Fray  Antonio  most  conspicuously 
would  not  take  part.  As  this  was  hopelessly  impossible — for 
only  by  very  slow  advances,  if  ever,  could  I  reach  again  by  con 
siderate  investigation  the  point  that  in  a  moment  I  had  reached 
by  chance — I  came  away  from  Santa  Maria  reluctantly,  yet 
greatly  elated  by  the  discovery  that  I  had  made. 

So  jealous  was  I  in  guarding  the  strange  legacy  that  the 
Cacique  had  bequeathed  to  me  that  not  until  I  was  safe  back 
in  Morelia,  in  my  room  at  the  hotel,  with  the  door  locked  behind 
me,  did  I  venture  to  examine  it.  The  bag,  about  six  inches 
square,  tightly  sewed  on  all  four  of  its  sides,  was  made  of  snake- 
skin,  and  was  provided  with  a  loop  of  snake-skin  so  that  it  might 
be  hung  from  the  neck  upon  the  breast  like  a  scapulary.  My 
hands  trembled  as  I  cut  the  delicate  stitching  of  maguey  fibre, 

19 


20 

and  then  drew  forth  a  mass  of  several  thicknesses  of  coarse 
gray-brown  paper,  also  made  of  the  maguey,  such  as  the  ancient 
Aztecs  used.  Being  unfolded,  I  had  before  me  a  sheet  nearly 
two  feet  square,  on  which  was  painted  in  dull  colors  a  curious 
winding  procession  of  figures  and  symbols.  My  knowledge  of 
such  matters  being  then  but  scant,  I  could  tell  only  that  this 
was  a  record,  at  once  historical  and  geographical,  of  a  tribal 
migration;  and  I  saw  at  a  glance  that  it  was  unlike  either  of  the 
famous  picture-writings  which  record  the  migration  of  the  Aztecs 
from  Culiacan  to  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  and  then  about  that 
valley  until  their  final  settlement  in  Tenochtitlan.  I  was  reason 
ably  confident,  indeed,  that  this  record  differed  from  all  existing 
codices;  and  I  was  filled  with  what  I  hope  will  be  looked  upon 
as  a  pardonable  pride  at  having  discovered,  within  three  months 
of  my  coming  to  Mexico,  this  unique  and  inestimable  treasure. 

My  natural  desire  was  to  carry  my  precious  codex  at  once  to 
Don  Rafael,  that  I  might  have  the  benefit  of  his  superior  knowl 
edge  in  studying  it,  and  also  that  I  might  enjoy  his  sympathetic 
enjoyment  of  my  discovery.  As  I  raised  the  bag,  that  I  might 
replace  in  it  the  refolded  paper,  some  glittering  object  dropped 
out  of  it  and  fell  with  a  jingling  sound  upon  the  stone  floor. 
When  I  examined  eagerly  this  fresh  treasure  I  found  that  it  was 
a  disk  of  gold,  about  the  size  and  thickness  of  a  Mexican  silver 
dollar,  on  which  a  curious  figure  was  rudely  engraved.  The 
engraving  obviously  represented  an  Aztec  name-device,  the  like 
of  which,  in  the  ancient  picture-writings,  distinguish  one  from 
another  the  several  generations  of  a  line  of  kings.  But  that  the 
gold  disk  was  the  token  concerning  the  meaning  of  which  the 
dying  Cacique  had  given  so  strange  a  hint,  I  felt  assured. 

Being  still  further  gladdened  by  this  fresh  discovery,  I  car 
ried  my  treasures  at  once  to  the  Museo;  and  Don  Rafael's 
enthusiasm  over  them  was  as  hearty  as  I  could  desire.  Being 
so  deeply  learned  in  such  matters,  he  was  able  in  the  course 
of  a  single  afternoon  to  arrive  at  much  of  the  meaning  of  my 
codex;  and  his  rendering  of  it  showed  that  it  possessed  a  very 
extraordinary  historical  value.  In  the  Codex  Boturini,  as  is 
well  known,  are  several  important  lapses  that  neither  that  emi 
nent  scholar,  nor  any  other  archaeologist  whose  conclusions  can 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          21 

be  considered  trustworthy,  has  been  able  to  supply.  All  that 
reasonably  can  be  imagined  concerning  these  breaks  is  that  the 
historian  of  the  Aztec  migration  deliberately  omitted  certain 
facts  from  his  pictured  history.  The  astonishing  discovery  that 
Don  Rafael  made  in  regard  to  my  codex  was  that  it  unquestion 
ably  supplied  the  facts  concealed  in  one  of  the  longest  of  these 
unaccountable  blanks.  This  was  not  a  mere  guess  on  his  part, 
but  a  demonstrable  certainty.  On  a  fac-simile  of  the  Codex 
Boturini  he  bade  me  observe  attentively  the  pictures  which  pre 
ceded  and  which  followed  the  break  in  question;  and  then  he 
showed  me  that  these  same  pictures  were  the  beginning  and  the 
ending  of  my  own  codex — obviously  put  there  so  that  this  secret 
record  might  be  inserted  accurately  into  the  public  record  of  the 
wanderings  of  the  Aztec  tribe. 

Further,  the  geographical  facts  set  forth  in  the  Codex  Boturini 
having  been  very  solidly  established,  it  was  easy  to  determine 
approximately  the  part  of  Mexico  to  which  the  beginning  and  the 
end  of  my  codex  referred.  But  the  migration  here  recorded  was 
a  very  long  one,  and  all  that  Don  Rafael  could  say  with  certainty 
concerning  it  was  that  it  told  of  far  journeyings  into  the  west  and 
north.  He  was  much  puzzled,  moreover,  by  a  picture  that 
occurred  about  the  middle  of  the  codex,  and  that  seemed  to  be 
intended  to  represent  a  walled  city  among  mountains.  To  my 
mind  this  picture  tallied  well  with  what  the  dying  Cacique  had 
told  me  touching  the  hidden  stronghold  of  his  race.  But  Don 
Rafael  attached  very  little  importance  to  the  Cacique's  words; 
and  on  archaeological  grounds  maintained  that  a  walled  city  was 
an  impossibility  in  primitive  Mexico — for  while  walls  were  built 
in  plenty  by  the  primitive  Mexicans,  and  still  are  to  be  found 
in  many  places,  no  mention  of  a  walled  city  is  made  by  the  early 
chroniclers,  and  of  such  a  city  there  never  has  been  found  the 
slightest  trace. 

In  regard  to  the  engraved  disk  of  gold,  Don  Rafael  said  at 
once  and  positively  that  it  represented  a  name-device  which  never 
had  been  figured  in  any  known  Aztec  writing;  and  he  was  of  the 
opinion  that  the  name  here  symbolized  was  that  of  a  ruler  who 
was  both  priest  and  king.  That  the  piece  of  gold  was  found 
associated  with  picture-writing  unquestionably  belonging  to  the 


22 

theocratic  period  lent  additional  color  to  this  assumption.  The 
sum  of  our  conclusions,  therefore,  was  that  we  had  here  the 
name-device  of  a  priest-king  who  had  ruled  the  Aztec  tribe 
during  some  portion  of  the  first  migration.  And,  assuming  that 
he  had  lived  during  the  period  to  which  my  codex  referred,  and 
accepting  the  system  of  dates  tentatively  adopted  by  Sefior 
Ramirez,  we  even  fixed  the  ninth  century  of  our  era  as  the  period 
in  which  he  had  lived  and  ruled. 

During  two  whole  days  Don  Rafael  and  I  worked  together 
over  these  matters  in  the  Museo;  and  it  was  not  until  our 
investigations  were  ended  that  my  thoughts  reverted  to  Fray 
Antonio,  and  to  the  requirement  of  courtesy  that  I  should  report 
to  him  the  result  of  my  course  of  study  in  the  Indian  tongues. 

But  when  I  was  come  to  the  Church  of  San  Francisco — carry 
ing  with  me  the  Codex  Palgravius  and  the  engraved  disk  of  gold, 
in  both  of  which  I  knew  that  he  would  take  a  keen  interest — I 
had  no  immediate  opportunity  of  exhibiting  to  him  my  treasures. 

As  I  pushed  open  the  sacristy  door,  he  came  towards  me  at 
once  in  excitement  so  eager  that  his  face  was  all  lit  up  by  it; 
and  almost  before  I  could  greet  him  he  exclaimed:  "You  are 
most  happily  come,  my  friend.  At  this  very  moment  I  was  about 
to  send  for  you;  for  I  have  found  that  which  will  stir  your 
heart  even  as  it  has  stirred  mine.  Yet  perhaps,"  and  he  spoke 
more  gravely,  "it  will  not  stir  your  heart  in  the  same  way  that 
mine  is  stirred  by  it — for  if  I  can  but  find  the  key  that  will 
unlock  the  whole  of  the  mystery  that  here  partly  is  revealed,  I 
see  before  me  such  opportunity  to  garner  the  Lord's  vintage  as 
comes  but  seldom  to  His  servants  in  these  later  ages  of  the 
world." 

So  strange  was  Fray  Antonio's  manner  that  I  was  half  inclined 
to  think  his  religious  enthusiasm  fairly  had  landed  him  in  reli 
gious  madness.  But  he  smiled  kindly  at  me,  and  in  a  quieter 
tone  went  on : 

"My  wits  still  are  with  me,  Don  Tomas;  though  I  do  not 
wonder  at  your  thinking  that  I  have  lost  them.  Sit  down  here 
and  listen  to  the  story  of  my  discovery;  and  when  it  is  ended  you 
will  perceive  that  I  very  well  may  be  excited  by  it  and  still  be 
sane." 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          23 

Being  assured  by  this  calmer  speech  that  Fray  Antonio  had 
not  taken  leave  of  his  senses,  I  made  a  weak  disclaimer,  and  so 
seated  myself  to  listen. 

"You  know,  seiior,"  he  began,  "that  common  report  has  de 
clared  that  beneath  this  Church  of  San  Francisco  is  a  secret 
passage  that  extends  under  the  city  and  has  its  exit  in  the  outlying 
meadow-lands.  I  may  confide  in  you  frankly  that  this  passage 
does  exist,  and  that  I,  in  common  with  all  members  of  my  Order 
who  have  dwelt  here,  know  precisely  where  its  entrance  is  and 
where  its  outlet.  These  matters  need  not  be  exposed,  for  they 
are  not  essential  to  my  purpose.  But  you  must  know  that  in 
the  midst  of  this  passage  I  found  on  the  day  preceding  your 
return  from  the  mountains  a  little  room  of  which  the  door  was 
so  well  concealed  that  my  finding  it  was  the  merest  accident. 
And  in  the  room,  with  other  things  which  need  not  here  be 
named,  I  found  a  chest  in  which  are  certain  ancient  papers  of 
which  I  have  been  long  in  search.  In  the  archives  are  frequent 
references  to  these  papers — they  are  of  much  importance  to  our 
Order — but  as  with  all  my  search  I  never  could  discover  them,  I 
had  decided  in  my  mind  that  in  one  or  another  of  the  troublous 
periods  that  our  Church  has  passed  through  they  had  been 
destroyed.  It  is  plain  to  me  now  that  in  one  of  these  periods 
of  danger  they  were  hidden  in  this  safe  place. 

"Some  of  these  papers,  dealing  with  mere  matters  of  history, 
you  will  have  pleasure  in  examining  in  due  time.  But  that  which 
I  shall  show  you  now,  and  which  has  so  excited  me,  has  got 
among  the  rest,  as  I  verily  believe,  by  simple  accident.  Among 
the  books  and  papers  in  the  chest  was  a  parchment  case  on 
which  was  written  'Mission  of  Santa  Marta,'  and  the  date  *  1 53 1 .' 
As  I  pried  into  the  case  more  closely,  I  found,  within  a  double 
fold  of  the  parchment — yet  not  as  though  intentionally  hidden, 
but  rather  as  though  there  placed  for  temporary  safety — a 
sealed  letter  directed  to  the  blessed  Fray  Juan  de  Zumarraga, 
who  was  of  our  Order,  and  who,  as  you  know,  was  the  first  bishop 
of  our  holy  Church  in  this  New  Spain.  As  I  drew  forth  the 
letter,  the  seal,  that  time  had  loosened,  fell  away  and  left  it  open 
in  my  hand.  That  this  letter  never  until  now  has  been  read  I 
am  altogether  confident,  for  the  prodigy  of  which  it  tells  would 


24          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

have  made  so  great  a  stir  that  ample  record  of  it  would  have 
been  preserved.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  account  for  the  way  in 
which  it  missed  coming  to  the  eye  for  which  it  was  intended.  In 
that  early  time  many  and  many  of  our  Order,  going  out  to  preach 
God's  Word  among  the  barbarians,  came  happily  to  that  end 
which  is  the  happiest  end  attainable  in  God's  service:  a  blessed 
martyrdom."  Fray  Antonio's  voice  trembled  with  deep  feeling 
as  he  spoke,  and  I  remembered  that  Don  Rafael  had  told  me 
that  this  good  brother,  it  was  believed,  himself  longed  for  a 
death  so  glorious.  "And  being  thus  slain,"  Fray  Antonio  in  a 
moment  continued,  "the  mission  stations  which  they  had  estab 
lished  were  left  desolate,  with  what  they  held — save  such  few 
things  as  might  be  cared  for  by  the  savage  murderers — remain 
ing  there  within  them.  In  later  times,  as  the  conquering  Span 
iards  overspread  the  land,  many  of  these  stations  were  found, 
with  nothing  to  tell  save  nameless  bones  of  those  who  had  died 
there  that  God's  will  might  be  done. 

"It  is. my  conjecture,  therefore,  that  this  parchment  case  was 
found — how  many  years  after  the  death  of  him  who  owned  it, 
who  can  tell? — in  one  of  the  many  stations  that  the  savages 
thus  ravaged;  that  the  soldiers,  or  whoever  may  have  found 
it,  brought  it  hither,  the  nearest  important  abiding-place  of  our 
Order;  and  that,  being  carelessly  examined,  it  was  carelessly 
thrown  aside  when  found  to  contain,  apparently,  only  the  little 
record  of  the  work  which  our  dead  brother  accomplished  before 
God  granted  him  his  crown  of  earthly  martyrdom  and  so  made 
quick  his  way  to  heaven.  Had  the  letter  ever  reached  that  'first 
hand'  for  which  the  writer  says  he  waits  to  send  it  by,  it  as 
suredly  would  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  gold-loving 
Spanish  conquerors,  and  armies  would  have  gone  forth  to  answer 
it.  But  our  dead  brother,  having  written  it  and  placed  it  in 
this  fold  of  the  parchment  for  safety  until  the  chance  to  send 
it  southward  should  come,  was  cut  off  from  life  suddenly;  and 
so,  of  the  prodigious  marvel  of  which  knowledge  had  so  strangely 
come  to  him,  only  this  mute  and  hidden  record  remained." 

"But  the  letter  itself?"  I  asked,  with  more  energy  than  polite 
ness.  "What  is  the  story  that  it  contains?  What  is  this  mys- 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          25 

tery?  Tell  me  of  it  first,  and  then  explain  as  much  as  you  please 
afterwards." 

Fray  Antonio  smiled  at  me  kindly.  "Ah,  you  too  are  becom 
ing  excited,"  he  said.  "But,  truly,  it  is  not  fair  that  I  should 
thus  have  kept  you  waiting.  Indeed,  I  am  so  full  of  it  all  that 
I  forget  that  as  yet  you  know  nothing.  Come  out  with  me  into 
the  court-yard,  where  the  light  is  stronger — for  the  writing  is 
very  faint  and  pale — and  I  will  read  you  this  letter  in  which  so 
wonderful  a  story  is  set  forth." 

Together  we  passed  out  through  a  little  door  in  the  rear  of 
the  sacristy  into  what  had  been  the  inner  and  smaller  cloistered 
court-yard  of  the  old  convent — a  lovely  place  in  which  a  fountain 
set  in  a  quaint  stone  basin  sparkled,  and  where  warm  sunshine 
fell  upon  the  rippling  water  and  upon  beds  of  sweet-smelling 
flowers.  And  here  it  was,  standing  among  the  flowers  in  the 
sunshine,  beside  the  quaint  fountain,  that  Fray  Antonio  read 
to  me  the  letter — that  in  this  strange  fashion  had  come  to  us 
from  a  hand  dead  for  much  more  than  three  centuries,  and  that 
yet  brought  to  us  two  a  vital  message  that  wholly  was  to  shape 
our  destinies. 


Chapter  IV 

letter  was  without  date,  but,  being  addressed  to  the 
JL  Bishop  Zumarraga,  the  phrase  that  occurred  in  it — "this 
New  Spain,  wherein,  Very  Reverend  Father,  you  have  labored 
in  God's  service  this  year  and  more  past" — showed  that  1530 
was  the  year  in  which  it  was  written.  As  to  place,  there  prac 
tically  was  no  clue  at  all.  The  writer  referred  repeatedly  to 
"this  mission  of  Santa  Marta,  in  the  Chichimeca  country" — but 
the  mission  had  perished  utterly  but  a  little  while  after  it  was 
founded;  and  at  that  period  the  term  Chichimeca  country  was 
used  by  the  Spaniards  in  speaking  of  any  part  of  Mexico  where 
wild  Indians  were. 

Being  shorn  of  a  portion  of  its  pious  verbiage,  and  somewhat 
modernized  in  style,  the  ancient  Spanish  of  this  letter  contained 
in  effect  these  words: 

"VERY  REVEREND  FATHER, — This  present  letter  will  be  sent 
forward  to  you  by  the  first  hand  by  which  it  may  be  hence  trans 
mitted;  and  in  your  wisdom,  with  God's  grace  also  guiding  you, 
I  doubt  not  that  you  will  take  measures  for  sending  missionaries 
of  our  Order  to  the  great  company  of  the  heathen  whose  where 
abouts  I  am  to  disclose  to  you.  And  also,  no  doubt — keeping 
the  matter  secret  from  the  pestilent  Oidores,  of  the  Audiencia — 
you  will  communicate  this  strange  matter  through  safe  channels 
to  our  lord  the  King:  that  with  our  missionaries  an  army  may 
go  forth,  and  that  so  the  great  treasure  of  which  I  give  tidings 
may  be  wrested  from  the  heathen  to  be  used  for  God's  glory  and 
the  enriching  of  our  lord  the  King. 

"Know,  Very  Reverend  Father,  that  a  month  since,  I  being 
then  abroad  from  this  mission  of  Santa  Marta,  preaching  God's 
word  in  a  certain  village  of  the  Chichimecas  that  is  five  leagues 
to  the  northward,  was  so  strengthened  by  God's  grace  that  many 
of  the  heathen  professed  our  holy  faith  and  were  baptized.  And 
of  these  was  one  who  among  that  tribe  was  held  a  captive. 

26 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          27 

Which  captive,  as  I  found,  was  of  the  nation  that  dwelt  in  Te- 
nochtitlan  before  our  great  captain,  Don  Fernando  Cortes, 
reduced  that  city  to  submission.  But  little  of  earthly  life  re 
mained  to  this  poor  captive  when  I,  unworthily  but  happily, 
opened  to  him  the  way  to  life  glorious  and  eternal.  So  it  was 
that  I  had  but  little  more  than  time  to  put  him  in  the  way  leading 
to  heaven  before  his  spirit  gladly  forsook  its  weary  body  and 
went  thence  from  earth. 

"That  he  truly  was  a  convert  to  our  holy  faith  I  am  well 
assured,  by  the  signs  of  a  spirit  meet  for  repentance  which  he 
showed  in  his  own  person;  and  still  more  by  his  strong  longing, 
most  earnestly  expressed,  that  this  same  glorious  faith  of  free 
dom  should  be  preached  to  a  certain  great  company  of  his  people, 
whereof  he  most  secretly  told  me,  who  still  remain  bound  in 
the  bondage  of  idolatry.  And  it  is  what  he  told  me  of  these, 
Very,  Reverend  Father,  and  of  the  marvellous  hidden  city 
wherein  they  dwell,  and  of  the  mighty  treasure  which  there  they 
guard,  that  I  desire  now  to  bring  to  your  private  knowledge, 
before  it  shall  be  known  of  by  the  Oidores,  and  through  you  to 
our  lord  the  King.  Here  now  is  the  whole  of  the  mystery  that 
he  recited: 

"In  very  ancient  times,  he  said,  his  people  came  forth  from 
seven  caves  which  are  in  the  western  region  of  this  continent,  and 
wandered  long  in  search  of  an  abiding-place.  And  in  the  course 
of  ages  it  came  to  pass  that  a  certain  wise  king  ruled  over  them 
to  whom  was  given  the  gift  of  prophecy.  Which  king,  by  name 
Chaltzantzin,  foretold  that  in  the  later  ages  there  should  come 
an  army  of  fair  and  bearded  men  from  the  eastward,  who  would 
prevail  over  the  people  of  his  race:  slaying  many,  and  making 
of  the  remainder  slaves.  Being  sorely  troubled  by  thought  of 
what  he  thus  foresaw,  he  set  himself  to  provide  a  source  of 
strength  whereon  his  descendants  in  that  later  time  might  draw 
in  the  hour  of  their  peril — and  so  save  themselves  from  cruel 
death  and  from  yet  crueler  slavery.  To  which  end,  in  a  certain 
great  valley  that  lies  securely  hidden  among  the  mountains  of 
this  continent,  he  caused  to  be  built  a  walled  city;  and  this  city 
he  then  peopled  with  the  very  bravest  and  strongest  of  his  race. 
And  he  made  for  those  dwelling  there  a  perpetual  law  that  com- 


28          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

manded  that  all  such  as  showed  themselves  when  come  to  matu 
rity  to  be  weak  or  malformed  in  body,  or  coward  of  heart,  then 
should  be  put  to  death.  And  thus  he  provided  that  in  the  time 
of  need  there  should  be  here  a  strong  army  of  valiant  warriors, 
ready  to  come  forth  to  fight  against  the  fair-faced  bearded  men, 
and  by  conquering  them  to  save  the  land. 

"And  yet  more  provision  did  King  Chaltzantzin  make  for 
the  strengthening  and  the  saving  of  his  race  in  the  later  ages. 
Within  this  walled  city  of  Culhuacan  he  caused  to  be  builded 
a  great  treasure-house,  wherein  he  garnered  such  store  of  riches 
as  never  was  gathered  together  in  one  place  since  the  beginning 
of  the  world.  And  his  order  was  that  if  even  the  power  of  the 
army  which  should  go  forth  from  that  city  sufficed  not  to  con 
quer  the  foreign  foemen,  then  should  this  vast  treasure  be  used 
to  buy  his  people's  ransom,  that  they  might  not  perish  nor  be 
enslaved. 

"Having  set  all  which  great  matters  in  order,  King  Chalt 
zantzin  came  forth  from  the  Valley  of  Aztlan,  leaving  behind 
him  the  noble  colony  that  he  had  there  founded;  and  so  with  his 
people  wandered  vagrant — even  as  their  gods  had  commanded 
that  they  should  go  until  by  a  sign  from  heaven  they  should  be 
shown  where  was  to  be  their  lasting  home.  And  that  the  ful 
filling  of  his  purpose  might  be  made  the  more  sure,  he  brought 
his  people  forth  from  that  valley  by  most  perilous  passes  and 
through  strait  ways  so  that  they  might  not  return  thither;  and 
that  they  who  remained  might  not  follow,  he  closed  the  way 
behind  him  with  mighty  bars. 

"In  the  fulness  of  time  this  wise  king  died,  and  others  reigned 
in  his  stead;  and  at  last  the  ages  of  wandering  of  the  Aztec  tribe 
were  ended  by  the  sign  coming  from  heaven  whereby  they  knew 
that  the  Valley  of  Anahuac  was  to  be  their  abiding  home.  There 
built  they  the  city  of  Tenochtitlan :  which  city  the  valiant  cap 
tain,  Don  Fernando  Cortes,  conquered  this  short  time  since — 
and  by  conquest  of  it  verified  precisely  the  prophecy  that  King 
Chaltzantzin  uttered  in  very  ancient  times. 

"But  the  captive  Indian  told  me,  further,  that  before  the 
coming  of  the  Spaniards  there  was  seen  the  sign  of  warning  that 
King  Chaltzantzin  had  promised  should  tell  when  the  danger 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          29 

that  he  had  so  well  prepared  for  should  be  near;  which  sign  was 
the  going  out  of  the  sacred  fire  that  the  priests  guarded  on  a 
certain  high  hill.  Meantime,  all  knowledge  of  their  brethren 
hidden  in  the  Valley  of  Aztlan  for  their  help  in  time  of  peril  was 
lost  to  the  Aztec  tribe  in  dim  tradition;  for  the  King  had  com 
manded,  in  order  that  his  people  might  not  fall  into  weakness 
through  trusting  in  the  strength  of  others  for  protection,  that 
no  open  record  of  the  colony  that  he  had  founded  should  be 
preserved.  Therefore  was  this  matter  a  secret  known  only  to  a 
few  priests  whose  blood  was  of  the  royal  line;  in  whose  keeping, 
also,  was  the  token  that  King  Chaltzantzin  had  commanded 
should  be  sent  to  the  walled  city  of  Culhuacan  when  its  warriors 
were  to  be  called  forth,  and  a  map  whereby  the  way  thither  was 
made  plain.  And  so  it  was  that,  when  the  sacred  fire  ceased 
burning,  the  priests  were  alert  for  the  threatened  danger;  and 
when  the  landing  of  the  Spaniards — 'fair-faced  and  bearded  men, 
coming  from  the  eastward' — was  known  to  them,  they  warned 
their  king,  Montezuma,  that  the  prophecy  was  fulfilled,  and  that 
the  time  for  sending  for  the  army  and  the  treasure  had  come. 

"For  the  bearer  of  this  message  was  chosen  a  priest  of  the 
blood  royal,  with  whom  went  also  a  younger  priest,  his  son. 
And  with  these  went  a  guard,  whereof  the  captive  Indian  was 
one,  that  they  might  be  carried  in  safety  through  the  region 
where  the  wild  Indians  were.  But  the  valor  of  the  guard  was 
useless,  for  the  wild  Indians  set  upon  them  in  such  prodigious 
numbers — in  a  place  not  far  from  where  is  this  present  mission 
of  Santa  Marta — that  all  of  that  company,  save  only  this  single 
Indian  who  was  wounded  and  made  captive,  was  overpowered 
and  slain.  Yet  among  the  slain,  the  Indian  said,  was  not  found 
the  body  of  the  priest's  son;  nor  was  there  found  on  the  priest's 
body  the  token  that  he  had  been  the  bearer  of,  nor  the  map 
that  showed  the  way.  For  a  time  the  Indian  had  hoped  that 
the  younger  priest  had  escaped  out  of  the  fight  alive,  and  had 
carried  to  them  who  dwelt  in  the  walled  city  of  Culhuacan  the 
message  of  summons;  but  as  the  years  went  onward  and  nothing 
came  of  it,  this  hope  had  died  within  his  heart. 

"This,  Very  Reverend  Father,  is  the  strange  story  told  me 
by  this  Indian;  who  spoke  with  the  urgent  sincerity  of  one 


30          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

devout  in  the  Christian  faith  who  knew  by  sensible  perception 
that  his  death  was  near  at  hand.  Eagerly  he  begged  that  to 
these  Gentiles,  his  brethren  by  blood,  might  be  sent  in  their 
secret  fastnesses  the  blessed  Word  whereby  they  would  be  deliv 
ered  from  the  chains  of  their  idolatry  into  the  freedom  of  Chris 
tian  grace.  And,  surely,  the  treasure  that  they  ward  very  well 
may  be  wrested  from  these  heathen  that  it  may  be  used  in  part 
in  this  land  in  God's  service,  and  that  in  part  it  may  go  to  the 
just  enriching  of  our  lord  the  King. 

"Nor  is  the  matter  one  that  is  difficult  of  accomplishment.  For 
a  token  which  shall  give  us  the  right  of  entry  into  this  walled 
city  of  Culhuacan  we  need  only  the  Word  of  God  and  a  sufficient 
force  of  men  well  armed  with  swords  and  matchlocks.  Nor  is  it 
any  bar  to  our  quest  that  the  map  showing  the  way  thither  has 
been  lost.  The  Indian  told  me  that  this  way  is  so  plainly  marked 
that  one  who  had  found  it  could  not  lose  it  again.  For  at  spaces 
of  not  more  than  a  league  or  two  apart,  upon  flat  places  of  the 
rock  convenient  for  such  purpose,  was  cut  the  same  figure  that 
the  token  of  summons  had  engraved  upon  it;  and,  with  this,  an 
arrow  pointing  towards  where  the  next  carving  would  be  found : 
and  so  these  signs  went  onward,  the  heathen  priest  had  told 
him,  even  to  the  very  entrance  of  the  Valley  of  Aztlan.  And 
that  this  matter  might  be  made  sure  to  me,  he  led  me  to  a  spot 
but  a  league  to  the  westward  of  this  mission  of  Santa  Marta  and 
there  showed  me  one  of  these  signs,  with  the  pointing  arrow 
carved  also  on  the  rock  beside  it — of  all  of  which  the  drawing 
here  made  is  an  indifferent  good  copy.  And  by  that  guiding 
arrow  we  went  onward  to  another  like  carving  at  a  little  less 
than  two  leagues  away  to  the  northward.  Therefore,  Very 
Reverend  Father,  I,  of  my  own  knowledge,  am  a  witness  to  a 
part,  at  least,  of  the  truth  of  what  that  Indian  told.  And  with 
all  my  heart  do  I  add  mine  own  entreaty  to  his  simple  pleadings 
for  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  his  brethren. 

"The  more  urgently  do  I  ask  this  favor  because  here,  in  this 
mission  of  Santa  Marta,  it  is  but  too  clear  to  me  that  I  am 
laboring  in  a  barren  field.  Some  hundreds  of  the  heathen  I  have 
indeed  baptized;  but  among  all  these  who  have  professed  our 
Christian  faith  scarce  a  score  show  outward  and  visible  signs  of 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          31 

a  true  regeneration.  Many,  I  am  sadly  sure,  still  practise  in 
secret  their  old  idolatry — and  find  little  more  than  mere  amuse 
ment  in  the  rites  of  our  most  holy  Church.  When  they  tire  of 
this  novelty,  which,  in  the  case  of  folk  of  such  light  natures  no 
doubt  will  be  in  a  little  while,  they  will  return  openly  to  their 
idolatry;  and  it  probably  may  happen  that  they  then  will  sacrifice 
me  to  their  heathen  gods.  That,  in  one  way  or  another,  they  do 
intend  to  kill  me,  and  that  soon,  I  feel  quite  sure.  I  am  but 
twenty-three  years  old,  Very  Reverend  Father;  and  that  is  an 
early  time  in  life  to  end  it.  No  doubt,  also,  in  killing  me  they 
will  use  torture.  And  I  long  fervently  to  live,  not  only  for  the 
pleasure  of  it,  but  also  that  I  may  do  good  service  to  God,  and 
to  our  Father  Saint  Francis,  by  saving  many  heathen  souls. 
Therefore  I  beg  that  when  the  army  marches  to  the  reduction 
of  this  hidden  city  that  I  may  be  one  of  our  brethren  who  will 
go  with  it,  to  hold  by  tender  preaching  of  God's  goodness  and 
mercy  such  heathen  as  may  remain  alive  after  our  soldiers  shall 
have  conquered  that  city  with  the  sword. 

"I  commend  you,  Very  Reverend  Father,  to  the  care  of  Our 
Lord  in  all  things,  and  pray  that  he  may  guard  your  most  illus 
trious  and  very  reverend  person,  and  protect  you  in  all  matters 
of  your  temporal  and  spiritual  estate.  And  I  am  the  least  worthy 
of  your  servants,  FRANCISCO  DE  LOS  ANGELES." 

"Of  a  truth,"  said  Fray  Antonio,  as  he  ceased  reading,  "this 
brother  of  mine  adhered  closely  to  the  truth  when  he  subscribed 
himself  the  least  worthy  of  the  bishop's  servants.  Were  it  not 
here  in  his  own  hand,  I  should  refuse  to  believe  that  one  of  our 
Order  at  that  time  in  New  Spain  had  any  thought  of  saving  his 
own  life  when  God's  work  was  to  be  done." 

But  in  a  moment  a  look  of  sadness  and  regret  came  into  Fray 
Antonio's  face,  and  he  added,  sorrowfully:  "God  forgive  me 
for  thus  judging  my  brother,  who  long  since  was  judged !  Who 
can  say  that  when  the  hour  of  trial  came  he  did  not  meet  his 
death  as  bravely  as  any  martyr  of  them  all?  And  who  can  say," 
he  went  on,  but  speaking  softly,  as  one  communing  with  his  own 
soul,  "how  I  myself But  God  gives  strength."  And  then 


32          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

he  ceased  to  speak  aloud,  but  his  lips  moved  silently  as  though 
in  prayer. 

And  then  the  subject-matter  in  chief  of  the  letter  claimed  our 
attention.  In  itself  this  was  sufficiently  marvellous;  but  what 
increased  the  marvel  of  it  was  the  conviction,  strong  within  us 
both,  that  if  the  hidden  city  of  Culhuacan  ever  had  existed  at  all 
it  existed  still.  Our  belief  was  so  entirely  logical  that,  assuming 
the  truth  of  the  story  told  by  the  Indian  captive,  it  admitted 
nowhere  of  a  doubt.  That  the  city  had  been  hidden  for  a  long 
period,  through  at  least  several  hundreds  of  years,  from  the 
Aztecs  themselves,  and  that  no  knowledge  of  it  had  been  con 
veyed  to  them  by  wild  Indians  who  had  come  by  chance  upon  the 
valley  wherein  it  was,  was  evidence  enough  of  the  security  of 
its  concealment.  That  it  never  had  been  found  since  the  Span 
iards  came  into  Mexico  we  were  absolutely  certain,  for  the  out 
cry  over  so  great  a  wonder  would  have  echoed  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  civilized  world.  Finally,  in  the  name  of  the  city, 
Culhuacan,  we  had  a  substantial  fact  which  connected  the  extraor 
dinary  story  that  had  come  to  us  so  strangely  with  matters  within 
our  own  knowledge.  For  this  name  not  only  is  given  in  the  Aztec 
traditions  as  that  of  the  sacred  spot  in  which  their  god  Huitzilo- 
pochtli  spoke  to  them,  but  survives  until  this  present  day  in  the 
name  of  the  village  that  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  sacred  mountain, 
in  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  called  by  the  Aztecs  the  Hill  of  Huit- 
zachtla,  and  by  the  Spaniards  the  Hill  of  the  Star — on  which, 
at  the  end  of  each  cycle  of  fifty-two  years,  the  sacred  fire  was 
renewed.  Surely  it  was  no  accident  that  had  caused  the  name 
Culhuacan  to  be  given  to  this  village  on  this  sacred  spot ;  rather 
must  it  have  been  so  named  by  the  elect  few  to  whom  the  secret 
was  known  as  a  perpetual  reminder  to  them  of  the  reserve  of 
men  and  treasure  upon  which  they  could  draw  should  danger 
threaten  their  country  and  their  gods. 

"No  doubt,"  said  Fray  Antonio,  "what  is  here  told  of  a  secret 
record,  known  only  to  the  priests,  supplies  one  of  the  lapses 
in  the  pictured  history  of  the  Aztec  migration;  but  as  we  know 
not  which  break  in  the  history  is  thus  filled  in,  we  have  no  clue 
whatever  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  this  hidden  place.  Nor  have 
we  any  clue  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  mission  of  Santa  Marta, 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          33 

whence  we  might  go  onward,  guided  by  the  carvings  upon  the 
rocks,  until  we  found  at  last  the  place  we  sought.  The  mission 
of  Santa  Marta,  where  my  brother  Francisco  long  ago  minis 
tered,  might  have  been  anywhere  in  all  Mexico;  and  being  so 
small  a  mission,  and  enduring  for  so  short  a  period,  it  is  not  likely 
that  any  record  of  it  anywhere  has  been  preserved.  Had  we  but 
the  map  and  the  token  of  which  my  brother  writes,  our  way 
would  be  clear;  without  these  guides  it  well  may  be  a  toilsome 
way  and  long.  Yet  do  I  know,"  Fray  Antonio  continued,  ear 
nestly,  "that  I  shall  find  this  hidden  city.  In  my  soul  is  a  strong 
and  glad  conviction  that  God  has  called  me  to  the  most  glorious 
work  of  carrying  to  the  heathen  dwelling  there  the  message  of 
His  saving  love.  He  has  worked  one  miracle  already  to  call  me 
to  this  duty;  in  His  own  good  time  and  way  I  doubt  not  that  He 
will  work  another  miracle  by  which  I  may  be  set  in  the  way  of  its 
accomplishment." 

As  Fray  Antonio  spoke  of  the  map  of  the  Aztec  migration,  a 
hope  came  into  my  heart  that,  as  I  considered  it,  seemed  surely 
to  be  a  certainty.  In  the  excitement  of  listening  to  this  strange 
letter — concerning  which  not  the  least  strange  matter  was,  that 
between  the  writing  and  the  reading  of  it  had  passed  three  hun 
dred  and  fifty  years — I  had  forgotten  my  own  discoveries,  and 
that  my  purpose  was  to  show  him  the  pictured  paper  and  the 
curious  piece  of  gold.  But  as  he  spoke  of  the  migration  this 
matter  was  called  to  my  mind  suddenly;  and  then  in  an  instant 
the  conviction  thrilled  through  me  that  the  clue  which  would  lead 
us  to  the  hidden  city  was  in  my  possession. 

"God  already  has  worked  that  other  miracle,"  I  cried,  joy 
fully.  "Here  is  the  token,  and  here  is  the  map  that  shows  the 
way!"  and,  so  speaking,  I  opened  the  snake-skin  bag  that  I  had 
taken  from  the  breast  of  the  dead  Cacique  and  drew  forth  its 
precious  contents. 

For  myself,  I  needed  no  additional  proof  that  here  was  all 
that  was  needful  to  guide  us  to  the  hidden  city.  Yet  was  I 
glad  that  in  so  grave  a  matter  we  should  have  added  to  absolute 
conviction  the  weight  of  absolute  proof.  And  this  we  had  most 
clearly;  for  Fray  Antonio,  cooler  than  I,  compared  the  drawing 
in  the  letter  with  the  engraving  upon  the  piece  of  gold,  and  found 


34          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

the  two  to  be  essentially  identical,  save  that  tRe  engraving  lacked 
the  sign  of  the  arrow  pointing  the  way. 

"And  now,"  I  cried,  enthusiastically,  "Tor  such  discoveries  in 
archaeology  as  the  world  has  never  known!" 

"And  now,"  said  Fray  Antonio,  speaking  slowly  and  rever 
ently,  "for  such  glorious  work  in  God's  service  as  has  been 
granted  but  rarely  to  man  to  do!" 


Chapter  V 

the  weight  of  a  strange  destiny  was  pressing  upon  us, 
JL  neither  Fray  Antonio  nor  I  for  a  moment  doubted.  It 
was  something  more  than  chance,  we  believed,  that  had  brought 
us  together,  and  that  thereafter,  by  such  extraordinary  means, 
had  put  into  our  hands,  in  places  far  asunder,  yet  at  almost  pre 
cisely  the  same  moment,  these  two  ancient  papers;  either  of 
which,  alone,  would  have  been  meaningless;  but  the  two  of 
which,  together,  pointed  clearly  the  way  to  a  discovery  so  won 
derful  that  the  like  of  it  was  not  to  be  found  in  all  the  history 
of  the  world. 

We  were  firmly  decided  to  keep  to  ourselves  the  honors  that 
so  great  an  archaeological  discovery  and  so  great  a  Christian  con 
quest  must  bring  to  us  severally,  but  we  perceived  that  it  would 
not  be  the  part  of  prudence  to  essay  our  adventure  without  any 
companions  at  all.  Some  portion  of  the  country  through  which 
we  were  to  pass  we  knew  to  be  frequented  by  very  dangerous 
tribes  of  Indians,  against  the  assaults  of  which  two  lonely  men 
— neither  of  whom  had  any  knowledge  whatever  of  the  art  of 
war — could  make  but  a  poor  stand.  And  even  should  we  escape 
the  wild  Indians,  we  knew  that  we  might  get  into  many  evil 
straits  in  which  our  lives  might  be  ended,  yet  through  which  a 
larger  company  might  pass  in  safety.  And  for  my  own  part, 
I  must  confess  that  I  had  a  strong  desire  to  have  with  me  some 
of  my  own  countrymen.  But  in  our  own  case  I  did  not  at  all 
see  whence  such  an  Anglo-Saxon  contingent  was  to  be  obtained. 

We  had  been  talking  over  this  matter  of  a  fighting  force 
one  afternoon  in  Fray  Antonio's  sacristy  and  we  had  come  almost 
to  the  determination  of  organizing  a  little  force  of  Otomi 
Indians,  and  calling  upon  two  brave  young  gentlemen  of  Fray 
Antonio's  acquaintance  to  join  us  as  lieutenants.  Although  I 
was  willing  to  adopt  this  plan,  since  no  other  was  open  to  us,  I 
was  far  from  fancying  it;  both  for  the  reason  which  I  have 
already  named,  and  also  for  the  reason — and  this  Fray  Antonio 

35 


3 6          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

admitted  was  not  without  foundation  in  probability — that  our 
young  allies  would  be  more  than  likely,  by  their  indiscreet  dis 
closures,  to  make  our  purpose  fully  known.  Therefore,  it  was 
in  no  very  pleasant  frame  of  mind,  our  conference  being  ended, 
that  I  returned  to  my  hotel. 

As  I  entered  the  hotel  court-yard  I  heard  the  sound  of  Pablo's 
mouth-organ,  and  with  this  much  laughter  and  some  talk  in  Eng 
lish;  and  as  I  fairly  caught  sight  of  the  merrymakers,  I  heard 
said,  in  most  execrable  Spanish,  "Here's  a  media  for  another 
tune,  my  boy;  and  if  you'll  make  the  donkey  dance  again  to  it,  I'll 
give  you  a  real." 


That  I  might  see  what  was  going  forward  without  interrupt 
ing  it,  I  stepped  behind  one  of  the  stone  pillars  that  upheld 
the  gallery;  and  for  all  that  my  mind  was  in  no  mood  for  laugh 
ter  just  then,  I  could  not  but  fall  to  laughing  at  what  I  saw. 

Over  on  the  far  side  of  the  court-yard,  with  Pablo  and  El 
Sabio,  were  two  men  whose  type  was  so  unmistakable  that  I 
should  have  known  them  for  Americans  had  I  met  them  in  the 
moon.  One  was  a  tall,  wiry  fellow,  with  a  vast  reach  of  arm, 
and  a  depth  of  chest  and  width  of  shoulders  which  showed  what 
powerful  engines  those  long  arms  of  his  were  when  he  set  them 
in  motion.  His  face  was  nearly  covered  by  a  heavy  black  beard, 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          37 

and  his  projecting  forehead  and  his  resolute  black  eyes  under  it 
gave  him  a  look  of  great  energy  and  force.  The  other  was  short 
and  thick-set,  with  a  big  round  head  stockily  upheld  on  a  thick 
neck,  and  with  a  good-humored  face,  which,  being  clean-shaven, 
was  chiefly  notable  for  the  breadth  and  the  squareness  of  the 
jaws.  He  had  merry  blue  eyes,  and  his  crown — he  was  holding 
his  battered  Derby  hat  in  his  hand — was  as  bare  as  a  billiard 
ball.  Below  timber-line,  as  he  himself  expressed  it,  he  had  a 
brush  of  close-cut  sandy-red  hair.  I  had  encountered  both  of 
these  men  when  I  first  came  to  Morelia,  and  during  two  or  three 
weeks  I  had  seen  a  good  deal  of  them,  for  we  had  met  daily  at 
our  meals ;  and  the  more  that  I  had  seen  of  them  the  better  was 


I  disposed  to  like  them.  The  tall  man  was  Rayburn,  a  civil 
engineer  in  charge  of  construction  on  the  advanced  line  of  the 
new  railway;  the  other  was  Young,  the  lost- freight  agent  of  the 
railroad  company — whose  duty,  for  which  his  keen  quickness 
peculiarly  well  fitted  him,  was  that  of  looking  up  freight  which 
had  gone  astray  in  transit.  Both  of  these  men  had  lived  long 
in  rough  and  dangerous  regions,  and  both — as  I  then  instinctively 
believed,  and  as  I  came  later  to  know  fully — were  as  true  and 
as  stanch  and  as  brave  as  ever  men  could  be. 

What  they  were  laughing  at,  there  in  the  court-yard,  was 
an  extraordinary  performance  in  which  the  performers  were 
Pablo  and  El  Sabio.  With  a  grin  all  over  the  parts  of  his  face 
not  engaged  in  the  operation  of  his  mouth-organ,  Pablo  was 


3 8          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

rendering  on  that  instrument  a  highly  Mexicanized  version  of 
one  of  the  airs  from  Pinafore  that  he  had  just  acquired  from 
hearing  Young  whistle  it.  To  this  music,  with  a  most  pained 
yet  determined  expression,  the  Wise  One  was  lifting  his  feet 
and  swaying  his  body  and  nodding  his  head  in  a  sort  of  accom 
paniment,  his  movements  being  directed  by  the  waving  of  Pablo's 
disengaged  hand.  The  long  ears  of  this  unfortunate  little  donkey 
wagged  in  remonstrance  against  the  unreasonable  motions  de 
manded  of  his  unlucky  legs,  and  every  now  and  then  he  would 
twitch  viciously  his  fuzzy  scrap  of  a  tail;  but  his  master  was 
inexorable,  and  it  was  not  until  Pablo's  own  desire  to  laugh 
became  so  strong  that  he  no  longer  could  play  the  mouth-organ 
that  El  Sabio  was  given  rest.  As  he  ended  his  dancing  I  must 
say  that  there  was  on  El  Sabio's  face  as  fine  an  expression  of 
contempt  as  the  face  of  a  donkey  ever  wore. 

"Hello,  Professor!"  Young  called  out,  as  he  caught  sight  of 
me,  "have  you  given  up  antiquities  an'  gone  into  th'  circus  busi 
ness?  This  outfit  that  you've  got  here  will  make  your  fortune 
when  you  get  it  back  into  th'  States.  If  you  don't  want  to  run  it 
yourself,  I'll  run  it  for  you  on  th'  shares ;  an*  I  guess  Rayburn'll 
be  glad  t'  go  along  as  clown.  He'd  make  a  good  clown,  Rayburn 
would.  You  see,  we're  both  of  us  out  of  work,  an'  both  lookin' 
for  a  job." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  being  out  of  work?"  I  asked,  when 
I  had  shaken  hands  with  them.  "What's  become  of  the  rail 
road?" 

"Oh,  th'  railroad's  got  into  one  of  its  periodical  bust-ups," 
Young  answered.  "A  row  among  the  bondholders,  an'  construc 
tion  stopped,  an'  working  expenses  reduced,  an'  pretty  much  all 
hands  bounced,  from  th'  president  down.  I  guess  Rayburn  an' 
I  can  stand  th'  racket,  though,  if  th'  company  can.  I've  been 

wantin'  t'  get  out  of  this  d d  Greaser  country  for  a  good 

while,  an'  I  guess  now  I've  got  my  chance.  I  must  say,  though, 
I  wish  it  had  come  a  little  less  sudden,  for  I  haven't  anything 
in  particular  in  sight  over  in  God's  country,  an'  Rayburn  hasn't 
either.  So  if  you  want  to  start  your  circus  we're  ready  for  you 
right  away.  Where  did  you  get  that  boy-an'-donkey  outfit  from, 
anyway?  They're  just  daisies,  both  of  'em  an'  no  mistake!" 


39 

"I  don't  know  that  you  can  count  on  me  for  a  clown,  Pro 
fessor,"  Rayburn  said,  "but  I  might  go  along  as  door-keeper, 
or  something  of  that  sort.  But  I  don't  believe  that  Young  and 
I  will  need  to  go  into  the  circus  business.  We  are  out  of  work, 
that's  a  fact;  but  the  company  has  done  the  square  thing  by  us 
— paid  us  up  in  full  to  the  end  of  next  month  and  fitted  us  out 
with  passes  to  St.  Louis.  We're  all  right.  Young  is  heading 
straight  for  home,  but  I  rather  think  that  I'll  take  a  turn  around 
the  country  and  see  what  the  civilized  parts  of  it  look  like.  Ever 
since  I  came  down  here,  nearly,  I've  been  at  work  in  the  wilds.  I 
want  to  see  some  of  the  old  temples  and  things  too.  You  can 
put  me  up  to  that,  Professor.  Where's  a  good  ruin  to  begin  on?" 

From  the  moment  that  I  laid  eyes  on  these  two  men,  as  I 
came  into  the  court-yard,  my  mind  was  made  up  that  I  would 
do  my  best  to  induce  them  to  join  with  Fray  Antonio  and  me 
in  our  search  for  the  hidden  city;  and  I  had  listened  very  gladly 
to  what  they  told  me,  for  it  showed  me  that  I  should  not  have 
to  ask  them  to  abandon  profitable  work  in  order  to  join  in  our 
doubtful  enterprise.  So  we  talked  lightly  about  the  circus  and 
other  indifferent  matters  for  a  while;  and  then  we  had  a  lively 
supper  together  at  La  Soledad,  and  then  I  brought  them  to  my 
room  to  smoke  their  cigars. 

It  was  while  they  were  in  the  comfortable  frame  of  mind 
that  is  begotten  of  a  good  meal  and  subsequent  good  tobacco 
that  I  opened  to  them  the  great  project  that  I  had  in  mind.  I 
told  them  frankly  the  whole  story.  I  presented  the  case  most 
glowingly — so  glowingly,  in  fact,  that  my  own  heart  was  quite 
fired  by  it — and  ended  by  urging  them  earnestly  to  join  us  in  a 
work  that  promised  so  greatly  to  increase  the  sum  of  human 
knowledge  touching  the  most  interesting  subjects  that  can  be 
presented  to  the  consideration  of  the  human  mind.  And  I  am 
pained  to  state  that  I  discovered,  when  I  finished  my  appeal,  that 
Young  was  sound  asleep ! 

Rayburn  did  not  go  to  sleep,  and  he  did  take  a  certain  amount 
of  interest  in  what  I  said,  but  I  was  discouraged  by  his  very 
obvious  failure  to  respond  to  my  enthusiasm. 

"You  see,  Professor,"  he  said,  "the  fact  of  the  matter  is  that 
I  can't  spare  the  time.  I  might  take  a  month  or  two,  but  you 


40          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

seem  to  think  that  a  year  is  the  least  time  in  which  any  substantial 
results  can  be  accomplished.  I  can't  give  a  year,  or  anything 
like  a  year,  to  what,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  will  be  sheer  idle 
ness.  I've  got  a  mother  and  sister  at  home  on  Cape  Cod  who 
depend  on  me  for  a  living,  and  I  must  get  to  work  again.  You 
see,  there  is  glory  enough  in  all  this,  and  glory  that  I  should 
like  to  have  a  share  in ;  but  glory  is  a  luxury  that  I  can't  afford. 
I've  got  to  go  to  work  at  something  that  has  money  in  it." 

The  sound  of  Rayburn's  voice  had  the  effect  on  Young  of 
waking  him  up.  He  listened,  in  a  sleepily  approving  way,  to 
Rayburn's  practical  comment,  and  then,  giving  a  prodigious 
yawn,  added,  on  his  own  account :  "Yes,  that's  about  the  size  of 
it.  We're  neither  of  us  here  for  our  health,  Professor;  what 
we're  after  is  spot  cash.  If  there  was  any  money  in  your  scheme 

I'd  take  a  hand  in  it  quick  enough ;  but  as  there  isn't Well, 

not  this  evening,  Professor;  some  other  evening." 

"No  money  in  it!"  I  answered.  "Why,  haven't  I  told  you 
that  there  is  stored  in  this  hidden  city  the  greatest  treasure  that 
ever  was  brought  into  one  place  since  the  world  began?" 

"No,  I'll  be  d d  if  you  have !"  Young  replied,  with  great 

energy  and  promptness.  "Not  a  word,  unless  it  was  while  I 
was  asleep.  What's  he  said  about  a  treasure,  Rayburn?  I'm 
awake  now,  an'  I'll  keep  awake  if  there's  anything  like  that  to  be 
talked  about." 

"You  certainly  haven't  said  anything  about  a  treasure  so  far, 
Professor,"  Rayburn  said.  "I'd  like  to  hear  about  it  myself. 
If  there  is  a  treasure-hunting  expedition  mixed  up  with  this 
scientific  expedition  of  yours,  that  puts  a  new  face  on  the  whole 
matter.  I  can't  afford  the  luxury  of  scientific  investigation  pure 
and  simple,  but  if  there  is  money  in  it  too,  that  is  quite  another 
thing.  So  tell  us  about  your  prospect,  Professor,  and  if  the 
surface  indications  are  good  you  can  count  on  me  to  go  in." 

I  therefore  dilated  upon  the  magnitude  of  the  hidden  treasure 
with  such  vehemence  that  presently  their  eyes  were  flashing,  and 
the  blood  had  so  mounted  into  their  brains  that  their  very  fore 
heads  were  ruddy  and  their  breath  came  short.  And  I  must  con 
fess  that  my  own  pulses  beat  quicker  and  harder  as  I  talked  on. 
And  in  all  that  I  said  of  the  vastness  of  the  hidden  treasure  I 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          41 

felt  certain  that  I  was  keeping  well  within  the  bounds  of  truth, 
for  I  had  the  positive  assurance  that  in  the  Aztec  treasure-house 
in  that  hidden  valley  the  ransom  of  a  nation  was  stored. 

"Will  you  go  with  us?"  I  asked,  when  I  had  brought  my  glow 
ing  description  to  an  end. 

"Well,  I  should  smile,  Professor,"  was  Young's  characteristic 
answer. 

"You  can  count  me  in  now,  and  no  mistake!"  said  Rayburn, 
and  added,  "By  Jove,  Palgrave,  I  mean  to  take  a  part  of  my 
share  and  buy  the  whole  of  Cape  Cod!" 

And  so  the  make-up  of  our  party  was  decided  upon.  Fray 
Antonio  joined  it  for  the  love  of  God;  I  joined  it  for  the  love 
of  science;  and  Young  and  Rayburn  joined  it  for  the  love  of 
gold.  In  regard  to  the  boy  Pablo,  he  could  not  strictly  be  said 
to  have  joined  it  at  all.  He  simply  went  along. 


Chapter  VI 

ANTONIO  was  well  pleased  when  I  told  him  of  the 
JL  stout  contingent  that  I  had  secured;  and  when  he  had  seen 
Rayburn  and  Young,  and  had  talked  with  them — though  his  talk 
with  Young  did  not  amount  to  much,  for  Young's  Spanish  was 
abominable — he  was  as  thoroughly  satisfied  as  I  was  that  for 
our  purposes  we  could  not  possibly  have  found  two  better  men. 

In  the  course  of  this  conference  we  made  short  work  of  our 
preparations  for  departure.  Rayburn's  experience  in  fitting  out 
engineering  parties  had  given  him  precisely  the  knowledge  re 
quired  for  putting  our  own  little  party  promptly  and  effectively 
in  the  field;  and  in  this  matter,  and  in  all  practical  matters  con 
nected  with  the  expedition,  Re  took  the  lead.  He  and  Young 
already  possessed  the  regulation  frontier  outfit  of  arms — a 
Winchester  rifle  and  a  big  revolver — which  they  increased  by 
another  big  revolver  apiece ;  and  I  armed  myself  similarly  with 
a  pair  of  revolvers  and  a  Winchester:  concerning  the  use  that 
I  should  make  of  which,  in  case  need  for  using  them  arose,  I 
had  very  grave  doubts  indeed.  Fray  Antonio  declined  to  carry 
any  arms  at  all;  and  after  he  had  accidentally  discharged  one  of 
my  pistols,  which  he  had  picked  up  to  examine,  so  that  the  ball 
went  singing  by  my  ear  and  actually  cut  through  the  brim  of 
Young's  hat,  there  was  a  general  disposition  to  admit  that  the 
less  this  godly  man  had  to  do  with  carnal  weapons  the  safer 
would  it  be  for  all  the  rest  of  us.  Young's  hat  was  a  battered 
Derby,  and  about  as  unsuitable  a  hat  for  wear  in  Mexico  as 
possibly  could  be  found;  but  for  some  unknown  reason  he  was 
very  much  attached  to  that  hat,  and  he  was  so  wroth  over  having 
a  hole  shot  through  it  in  that  unprovoked  sort  of  way  that  he 
manifested  a  decided  coolness  towards  Fray  Antonio  for  several 
days. 

In  the  matter  of  armament,  the  happiest  member  of  our  party 
was  Pablo.  He  was  a  handy  boy,  and  when  he  had  demonstrated 
his  ability  to  manage  a  revolver  by  doing  some  very  creditable 

42 


43 

shooting  with  mine  (at  a  mark  that  I  had  stuck  up  in  the  corral, 
in  order  that  I  might  gain  ease  in  the  use  of  this  unknown  weap 
on),  I  delighted  him  inexpressibly  by  buying  him  a  pistol  for  his 
very  own.  I  think  that  Pablo,  upon  becoming  the  possessor 
of  that  revolver,  at  once  grew  two  inches  taller.  The  way  that 
he  strutted  as  he  wore  it,  and  his  eager  thrusting  forward  of  his 
left  hip,  so  that  this  gallant  piece  of  warlike  furniture  might  be 
the  most  conspicuous  part  of  him,  were  a  joy  to  witness.  For  a 
time  his  mouth-organ  was  entirely  neglected;  and  coming  quietly 
into  the  corral  one  day,  I  found  him  engaged  in  exhibiting  the 
revolver  to  El  Sabio;  who  regarded  it  with  a  slightly  bored 
expression  that  I  do  not  think  Pablo  took  in  good  part. 

Rayburn  decided  that  our  expedition  could  be  made  more 
effectively  with  a  small  force  than  with  a  large  one.  He  argued 
that  unless  we  took  into  the  Indian  country  a  really  powerful 
body  of  men,  we  would  be  safer  with  a  very  few:  for  a  few  of 
us  would  feel  keenly  the  necessity  of  keeping  constantly  on  guard ; 
could  be  more  easily  managed  and  held  together  in  running 
away;  and  in  case  a  fight  was  forced  upon  us  we  would  fight 
more  steadily  because  each  of  us  would  know  surely  that  he 
could  rely  upon  the  support  of  all  the  rest.  Which  reasoning  we 
perceived  to  be  so  sound  that  we  promptly  accepted  it. 

Rayburn  added  to  our  company,  therefore,  only  three  men: 
two  Otomi  Indians  of  whom  Fray  Antonio  gave  a  good  account, 
and  Dennis  Kearney,  who  had  served  as  axeman  on  the  recently 
disbanded  engineering  corps.  He  was  a  merry  soul,  this  Dennis, 
with  a  stock  of  Irish  melodies  in  his  head  that  would  have  made 
the  fortune  of  an  old-time  minstrel.  He  and  Pablo  took  to  each 
other  at  once — though,  since  neither  of  them  spoke  a  word  of 
the  other's  language,  music  was  their  only  channel  of  communi 
cation — and  Pablo  presently  presented  us  with  a  rendering  on  his 
mouth-organ,  from  a  strictly  Mexican  stand-point,  of  "Rory 
O'More"  that  quite  took  our  breaths  away.  While  Pablo  played, 
Dennis  would  stand  by  with  his  head  cocked  on  one  side,  and 
with  an  air  of  attention  as  closely  critical  as  that  which  El  Sabio 
himself  exhibited ;  and  when  Pablo  went  wrong,  as  he  invariably 
did  in  his  attempted  bravura  passages,  Dennis  would  stop  him 
with  a  wave  of  his  hand,  and  an  "Aisy  now,  me  darlint !  That's 


44          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

good  enough  Mexican,  but  it  ain't  good  Irish  at  all,  at  all,"  and 
then  would  show  him  what  good  Irish  was  by  singing  "Rory 
O'More"  in  a  fashion  which  made  the  old  stone  arches  ring  with 
a  volume  of  music  that  could  have  given  odds  to  an  entire  brass 
band.  Poor  Dennis!  Only  the  other  day  I  heard  an  organ- 
grinder  grinding  forth  "Rory  O'More,"  and  the  memory  of  the 
last  time  I  heard  Dennis  sing  that  song,  and  of  what  heroic  stuff 
that  merry-hearted  rough  fellow  then  showed  himself  to  be 
made,  came  suddenly  over  me,  and  there  was  a  choking  in  my 
throat,  and  my  eyes  were  full  of  tears. 

Well,  it  was  a  good  thing — or  a  bad  thing,  as  you  please  to 
put  it — that  we  could  not  see  far  into  the  future  that  morning 
when  we  packed  our  mules  in  the  corral  of  the  hotel,  and  set  out 
upon  the  march  that  was  to  lead  us  through  such  perilous  pas 
sages  before  we  reached  its  end. 

That  I  might  fill  to  the  brim  the  cup  of  Pablo's  happiness 
— for  my  conscience  pricked  me  a  little  that  I  suffered  him  to  go 
with  us — I  had  bought  him  the  rain-coat  of  palm  leaves  for  which 
his  heart  so  long  had  pined.  What  with  this  and  his  revolver, 
and  the  delight  of  going  upon  a  journey  (for  he  had  very  fully 
developed  that  love  of  travel  which  is  so  strong  in  his  race), 
his  wits  seemed  to  be  completely  addled  with  joy.  He  insisted 
upon  putting  on  his  absurd  rain-coat  at  once;  and  he  did  so 
many  foolish  things  that  even  El  Sabio  looked  at  him  reproach 
fully — this  was  when  he  tried  to  place  on  that  small  donkey's 
back  some  of  the  heavy  pack-stuff  destined  for  the  back  of  one 
of  the  big  mules — and  we  got  along  much  better  with  his  room, 
as  he  presently  enabled  us  to  do,  than  we  did  with  his  company. 
When  the  time  for  starting  came,  we  had  quite  a  hunt  for  him ; 
and  we  might  not  have  found  him  at  all  had  we  not  been  guided 
by  the  sound  of  music  to  the  sequestered  spot  to  which  he  had 
retired  in  order  to  give  vent  to  his  pent-up  feelings  by  playing 
on  his  mouth-organ  "Pop  goes  the  weasel" — an  air  that  Young 
had  been  whistling  that  morning  and  that  had  mightily  taken 
Pablo's  fancy. 

We  made  rather  an  imposing  cavalcade  as  we  filed  forth  from 
the  great  gate  of  the  hotel,  and  took  our  way  along  the  Calle 
Nacional,  the  principal  street  of  the  city,  toward  the  Garita  del 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          45 

Ponientc.  Fray  Antonio  and  I  rode  first;  then  came  Rayburn 
and  Young,  followed  by  Dennis  Kearney;  then  the  two  pack- 
mules,  beside  which  walked  the  two  Otomi  Indians ;  and  closing 
the  procession  came  Pablo,  wearing  his  rain-coat,  with  his  revol 
ver  strapped  outside  of  it,  and  riding  El  Sabio  with  a  dignity 
that  would  have  done  honor  to  the  Viceroy  himself.  Pablo  cer 
tainly  was  in  the  nature  of  an  anti-climax;  but  I  would  not  have 
told  him  so  for  the  world.  Fray  Antonio  wore  the  habit  of  his 
Order,  this  privilege  having  been  specially  granted  to  him  by  the 
Governor  of  the  State  as  a  safeguard  for  all  his  expeditions 
among  the  Indians.  It  was  understood,  indeed,  that  he  now 
was  going  forth  on  one  of  his  missionary  visits  among  the 
mountain  tribes,  and  simply  rode  with  us,  so  far  as  our  ways 
should  lie  together,  for  greater  security.  I  had  announced  that 
I  was  going  among  the  Indians  again  in  order  to  increase  my 
knowledge  of  their  manners  and  customs;  and  Rayburn — to 
whom  the  rest  of  the  party  was  supposed  to  belong — had  stated 
that  he  was  taking  the  field  in  order  to  make  a  new  reconnois- 
sance  along  the  line  of  the  projected  railway.  It  was  in  order  to 
maintain  these  several  fictions  that  we  went  out  by  the  western 
gate,  and  that  we  continued  for  two  days  our  march  westward 
before  turning  to  our  true  course. 

Of  our  progress  during  the  ensuing  fortnight  it  is  not  neces 
sary  that  I  should  speak,  for  beyond  the  ordinary  incidents  of 
travel  no  adventures  befell  us.  During  this  period  we  went  for 
ward  steadily  and  rapidly;  and  at  the  end  of  it  we  had  covered 
more  than  three  hundred  miles,  and  had  come  close  to  where — 
supposing  our  rendering  of  the  Aztec  map  to  be  correct,  and 
that  we  had  rightly  collated  it  with  the  dead  monk's  letter — the 
mission  of  Santa  Marta  had  stood  three  centuries  and  a  half 
before.  There  was  no  possibility  that  any  trace  of  this  mission 
would  be  found ;  but  every  rock  that  we  came  to  was  most  eagerly 
scrutinized,  for  on  any  one  of  them  might  we  find  the  King's 
symbol  engraved. 

For  two  or  three  days  we  had  been  travelling  through  a  region 
very  wild  and  desolate.  Far  away  along  the  western  horizon 
rose  a  range  of  mountains  whose  bare  peaks  cut  a  jagged  line 
along  the  sky.  The  country  between  us  and  these  far-away 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 


DURING  THIS   PERIOD  WE   WENT 

mountains  was  made  up  of  many  parallel  ranges  of  rocky  hills ; 
which  ranges  were  separated  by  broad,  shallow  valleys,  where 
cactus  and  sage-brush  covered  the  dry  ground  thickly;  and  the 
only  trees  that  broke  this  dreary  monotony  were  pita-palms,  the 
most  dismal  thing  in  all  created  nature  to  which  the  name  of  a 
tree  ever  has  been  given  by  man.  There  was  no  trail,  and 
travelling  through  this  tangle  of  briers  was  very  difficult.  All  of 
Rayburn's  skill,  which  long  practice  had  developed  to  a  high 
degree,  was  required  to  enable  us  to  pick  a  way  through  so 
thorny  a  wilderness.  At  times  the  Indians  with  their  machetes, 
and  Dennis  with  his  axe,  had  to  cut  a  path  for  us;  and  despite 
all  our  care,  our  own  hands  were  cut  and  torn,  and  the  legs  of 
our  poor  beasts  were  red  with  blood. 

The  deadly  dryness  of  this  arid  waste  added  to  our  discomfort. 
A  strong  dry  wind  blew  steadily  from  the  north,  building  up  out 
of  the  fine  dust  which  was  over  all  the  surface  of  the  baked 
ground  little  whirlwinds — remolinos,  as  the  Mexicans  call  them 
— which  went  dancing  down  the  valleys  as  though  they  were 
ghostly  things;  and  occasionally,  when  one  of  these  struck  us, 
we  were  covered  with  a  prickly  dust  that  fairly  burned  our  skins. 
What  water  we  got  was  to  be  had  only  by  digging  in  the  arroyos 
which  traversed  the  centre  of  each  valley  longitudinally;  and 
although  this  water  always  was  muddy,  and  had  a  strongly  alka 
line  taste,  it  is  the  only  thing  that  I  remember  with  pleasure  in 
all  that  weary  land.  Of  animal  life  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen, 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          47 


FORWARD   STEADILY  AND   RAPIDLY 

save  a-plenty  of  rattlesnakes;  and  a  few  great  buzzards  which 
wheeled  above  us  from  time  to  time  as  though  with  the  intention 
of  keeping  track  of  us  until  we  should  fall  down  and  die  of  thirst 
and  weariness,  and  tKey  should  be  able  to  feast  upon  us  at  their 
ease. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  day  of  this  dreary  travelling  we  had 
come  close  to  the  great  western  range  of  mountains,  and  our 
camp  that  night  was  made  in  the  mouth  of  a  little  valley  that 
opened  from  among  the  foot-hills.  The  night  before  we  had 
made  a  dry  camp,  and  for  the  whole  of  the  twenty-four  hours  we 
had  had  but  a  pint  of  water  apiece.  Pablo,  I  am  sure,  had  given 
half  of  his  own  scant  allowance  to  El  Sabio.  The  other  animals 
— it  was  all  that  we  could  do  for  them — had  only  their  dusty 
mouths  and  nostrils  wiped  out  with  a  wet  sponge.  They  were 
pitiable  objects,  with  their  bleeding  legs,  their  haggard  eyes,  their 
out-hanging  tongues,  and  their  quivering  flanks.  As  Fray  An 
tonio  unsaddled  his  horse  I  saw  that  there  were  tears  in  his 
eyes ;  but  the  rest  of  us,  I  fear,  were  too  thoughtful  of  our  own 
misery  to  feel  much  sorrow  for  the  misery  of  our  beasts. 

I  suppose  that  a  man  must  suffer  the  lack  of  it,  as  we  then 
did,  in  order  to  know  how  precious  a  thing  water  is.  When  a 
little  digging  gave  us  that  night  as  much  water  as  we  wanted, 
our  joy  was  far  greater  than  it  would  have  been  had  we  there 
found  the  hidden  city  of  which  we  were  in  search. 

Our  well  was  sunk  in  the  broad  sandy  bottom  of  the  arroyo, 


48          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

in  the  midst  of  a  narrow  and  delectably  grassy  valley  between 
two  foot-hills.  And  the  abundance  and  the  sweetness  of  the 
water,  as  well  as  the  presence  of  grass,  showed  us  that  but  a 
little  way  up  this  valley  there  must  be  an  open  stream.  We 
drank,  and  our  beasts  drank,  until  all  of  our  skins  were  nigh 
to  bursting;  and  the  abundance  of  water  was  so  great  that 
we  even  could  wash  the  dust  at  last  from  our  parched  faces  and 
necks  and  arms;  and  much  like  raw  beef  our  skins  looked  when 
our  washing  was  ended,  and  the  stinging  of  them  was  as  though 
we  had  been  whipped  with  nettles.  It  was  our  intention  now  to 
leave  the  plains  and  to  march  along  the  edge  of  the  foot-hills 
parallel  with  the  main  range,  otherwise  we  should  not  have  ven 
tured  thus  to  wash  ourselves.  In  a  region  where  alkali  dust  is 
in  the  air,  washing  is  to  be  shunned ;  for  each  time  that  the  skin 
is  cleaned  the  new  deposit  of  dust  takes  a  deeper  biting  hold. 

It  was  rather  that  we  might  escape  the  misery  of  further 
travel  on  the  arid  plains  than  because  we  had  any  strong  hopes 
of  thus  finding  the  way  of  which  we  were  in  search  that  we  had 
decided  to  change  our  line  of  march.  Young  had  begun  openly 
to  express  his  contempt  for  the  Aztec  map,  and  in  the  hearts 
of  all  of  us  had  sprung  up  some  doubts  as  to  its  trustworthiness 
as  a  guide.  After  all,  it  was  not  in  the  least  a  map  in  the  true 
meaning  of  the  word;  and  that  it  would  show  us  rightly  our  way 
depended  not  only  upon  our  having  interpreted  correctly  its 
curious  symbolism,  but  also  upon  the  correctness  of  the  interpre 
tation  that  Mexican  archaeologists  had  given  to  the  map  of  the 
first  Aztec  migration — of  which  map,  as  we  believed,  our  map 
was  a  reserved  and  secret  part.  If  either  interpretation  were 
wrong,  then  we  might  be  hundreds  of  miles  distant  from  the 
region  in  which  the  way  marked  by  gravings  of  the  King's  sym 
bol  should  be  sought. 

Four  or  five  hours  of  daylight  still  remained  to  us  after  we 
had  dug  our  well,  and  with  the  delicious  water  flowing  into  it  had 
satisfied  our  thirst;  but  we  had  no  intention  of  going  farther 
that  day.  We  had  no  need  to  hobble  the  animals,  for  they  could 
be  trusted  to  stay  near  the  water-hole  while  they  feasted  on  the 
grass,  and  we  needed  food  and  rest  quite  as  much  as  they  did. 
Young  and  Dennis  together  got  us  up  a  famous  meal,  and  when 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          49 

it  was  ended  we  lighted  our  pipes  and  held  a  sort  of  council  of 
war.  That  we  might  talk  the  more  freely,  in  both  English  and 
Spanish,  we  drew  away  a  little  from  where  the  two  Otomi 
Indians  and  Pablo  were  stretched  out  upon  the  grass  together; 
and  we  bade  Dennis  take  a  look  around  the  shoulder  of  the  first 
hill,  so  that  we  might  know  something  of  what  our  way  would 
be  like  when  we  started  in  the  morning;  for  we  were  not  as  yet 
ready  that  the  minor  members  of  the  expedition  should  know 
the  purpose  that  we  had  in  mind.  We  had  decided  that  when, 
by  the  finding  of  the  course  indicated  by  the  gravings  of  the 
King's  symbol,  our  quest  fairly  had  a  beginning,  being  no  longer 
a  matter  of  mere  hope  and  conjecture,  we  then  would  give  Dennis 
and  Pablo  and  the  two  Indians  some  notion  of  what  we  intended 
doing;  with  the  option  of  deciding  for  themselves  whether  or 
not  they  would  have  a  part  in  it.  And  the  thought  never  once 
occurred  to  our  minds  that  circumstances  might  arise  of  such 
a  nature  that  neither  they  nor  we  would  have  any  choice  in  the 
matter  at  all. 

As  we  consulted  together  we  had  spread  out  before  us  a  map 
of  Mexico,  and  with  this,  the  map  that  the  Cacique  had  given 
me,  and  a  copy  of  the  map  showing  the  great  Aztec  march.  Yet 
the  more  that  we  counselled  the  less  could  we  come  to  any  rea 
sonable  conclusion  as  to  what  was  best  for  us  to  do.  As  nearly 
as  we  could  tell  from  the  strange  guides  that  we  needs  must  be 
led  by,  we  had  beaten  thoroughly  the  region  where  once  the 
mission  of  Santa  Marta  was ;  and  not  a  trace  of  the  gravings  on 
the  rocks  had  we  found.  To  go  over  this  region  again,  searching 
still  more  minutely,  was  too  great  an  undertaking  even  to  be 
thought  of;  and  yet  the  only  alternative  to  this  painful  course 
seemed  to  be  that  we  should  abandon  our  search  altogether;  in 
short,  we  were  completely  at  sea. 

"What  /  think,"  said  Young,  "is  that  that  old  dead  monk,  an' 
that  old  dead  Cacique,  have  set  up  a  job  on  us.  They're  both 
of  'em  lyin'  like  fiddlers;  that's  what's  th'  matter  with  them. 

There  ain't  any  hidden  city,  or  hidden  treasure,  or  hidden  d n 

anything;  it's  all  a  fraud  from  beginnin'  t'  end.  I  vote  t'  pull 
up  stakes  an'  go  home." 

A  cool  refreshing  wind  was  beginning  to  sweep  down  to  us 


50          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

from  the  mountains ;  but  it  was  blowing  only  in  puffs  as  yet,  for 
the  night  would  not  be  upon  us  for  several  hours.  Borne  faintly 
and  fitfully  upon  this  uncertain  wind  came  to  us  the  strains  of 
"Rory  O'More" ;  with  which  melody,  as  we  inferred,  Dennis  was 
beguiling  his  solitude  while  he  explored  the  route  that  we  were  to 
take  the  next  day.  Pablo,  sitting  comfortably  on  the  grass,  his 
back  propped  against  the  back  of  El  Sabio,  also  caught  the 


"INDIANS!"  HE  GASPED 

sound;  and  straightway  began  to  play  an  accompaniment  on  his 
mouth-organ  to  Dennis's  distant  singing.  The  strains  gradually 
grew  louder,  showing  that  Dennis  was  returning;  but  when  they 
stopped  suddenly  we  thought  that  he  had  only  tired  of  the  sound 
of  his  own  voice,  or,  perhaps,  did  not  think  anything  about  the 
matter  at  all. 

But  when  a  sound  of  hurried,  irregular  steps  came  down  the 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          51 

wind  to  us,  we  all  were  on  our  feet  in  a  moment  and  had  our 
arms  ready,  for  it  was  evident  that  Dennis  was  running  from 
something;  and  the  danger  was  likely  to  be  a  serious  one,  for 
running  was  not  at  all  in  Dennis's  line.  We  wondered  why  he 
did  not  call  out;  but  the  explanation  of  his  silence  was  plain 
enough,  ten  seconds  later,  as  he  came  around  the  shoulder  of 
the  hill,  staggered  in  among  us,  and  fell  on  the  grass  at  our 
feet — with  the  blood  streaming  from  his  mouth  and  nostrils, 
and  with  an  arrow  clear  through  his  breast. 

"Indians!"  he  gasped,  with  an  effort  that  brought  a  torrent 
of  blood  spurting  from  his  mouth;  and  he  added,  faintly,  "But 
I've  bate  'em,  th'  diwils,  in  their  hopes  of  a  soorprise!" 

These  triumphant  words  were  the  last  that  Dennis  Kearney 
uttered  on  earth.  As  he  spoke,  a  fresh  outburst  of  blood  came 
from  his  nostrils  and  mouth,  a  quiver  went  over  him — and  then 
he  was  dead.  I  do  not  believe  that  many  men  would  have  done 
what  Dennis  did:  run  a  good  quarter  of  a  mile  with  an  arrow 
through  his  lungs,  and  then  die  exulting  because  he  had  succeeded 
in  warning  the  camp. 

Rayburn  had  the  situation  instantly  in  hand.  "Get  the  packs 
and  saddles  on  quick  I"  he  cried.  "The  Indians'll  come  around 
that  hill  and  try  to  scoop  us  here  in  the  open.  They  won't  close 
in;  they'll  keep  off,  and  just  lie  around  for  a  week  till  we're  played 
out,  and  then  they'll  step  in  and  finish  us;  they'll  do  that,  likely 
enough,  anyway.  But  our  one  chance  is  to  get  to  a  place  up  the 
valley  here,  where  they  can  tackle  us  only  from  in  front.  There's 
water  up  there,  so  we'll  be  all  right,  and  we  may  be  able  to  shoot 
enough  of  them  to  make  the  rest  give  it  up,  or  they'll  close  in, 
and  we'll  have  the  comfort  of  getting  the  whole  thing  ended 
without  any  useless  fooling  over  It." 

All  the  while  that  he  spoke  he  was  working  away,  and  so 
were  we  all,  at  saddling  and  packing;  and,  luckily,  the  animals, 
although  the  water  and  the  food  and  rest  had  put  new  strength 
into  them,  still  were  too  tired  to  give  us  the  trouble  that  animals 
give  at  such  times  when  they  are  fresh.  In  a  surprisingly  short 
time  we  were  ready  to  start;  and  yet  not  a  sign  had  we  had, 
save  the  warning  that  Dennis  had  brought  us,  that  there  was 
an  Indian  within  a  hundred  miles  of  us.  Indeed,  but  for  his  dead 


52          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

body  on  the  ground  beside  our  camp-fire,  we  might  have  imagined 
that  our  scare  was  only  a  bad  dream.  That  it  was  a  very  bad 
reality  was  shown  just  as  the  last  pack  went  on,  when  one  of  our 
Otomi  Indians  gave  a  howl  as  an  arrow  went  through  his  leg,  and 
I  felt  a  sharp  little  nip  on  my  forehead  where  an  arrow  just 
grazed  it,  and  there  was  that  queer,  faint  whirring  sound  in  the 
air  that  only  a  flight  of  a  good  many  arrows  together  will 
produce. 

Rayburn  took  the  body  of  poor  Dennis  before  him  on  his 

own  horse ;  he'd  be  d d  if  the  Indians  should  get  Dennis  yet, 

he  said;  and  away  we  went  up  the  sandy  bed  of  the  arroyo, 
driving  the  mules  before  us,  and  the  Otomi  Indians  pelting  along 
on  a  dead-run.  The  Indian  who  had  been  hit  coolly  broke  the 
arrow  off  short,  and  then  pulled  it  out  through  the  wound. 

Suddenly  we  saw  Young,  who  was  riding  a  little  ahead  of  the 
rest  of  us,  half  pull  up  his  horse  and  look  earnestly  at  a  great 
shoulder  of  rock  that  jutted  out  from  the  mountain-side. 

"There's  your  King's  symbol,  and  be  d d  to  it!"  he  shouted; 

and  added,  "What's  the  good  of  a  King's  symbol  when  we're 
all  goin'  to  lose  our  hair?" 

He  was  under  full  headway  again  in  a  moment.    As  we  shot 
past  the  rock  we  all  turned  to  look;  and  there,  sure  enough, 
the  long-sought-for  sign. 


Chapter  VII 

A 5  WE  fled  along  the  valley,  and  in  a  few  moments  heard  the 
sound  of  the  Indians  pursuing  us,  I  began  to  have  a  curi 
ously  blood-thirsty  longing  for  our  actual  battling  with  them 
to  begin;  for  I  was  possessed  by  a  most  unscientific  desire  to  bal 
ance  our  account  by  killing  several  of  them.  And  I  confess  that 
this  desire  was  increased  as  I  looked  at  the  dead  body  of  poor 
Dennis,  lying  limply  across  the  fore-shoulders  of  Rayburn's 
horse. 

It  was  with  real  satisfaction,  therefore,  that  I  obeyed  Ray- 
burn's  order  to  halt,  that  we  might  make  ready  for  the  fight  to 
begin.  The  valley  up  which  we  had  been  riding  had  narrowed 
by  this  time  into  a  strait  way  shut  in  between  high  and  nearly 
perpendicular  walls;  and  the  place  that  Rayburn  had  chosen 
for  us  to  make  our  stand  in  was  the  mouth  of  a  canon  setting 
off  from  the  valley  nearly  at  right  angles.  The  walls  of  this 
canon  came  almost  together  above,  far  overhanging  their  bases, 
so  that  assault  from  overhead  was  impossible;  some  fragments 
of  fallen  rock  made  a  natural  breastwork  for  us  to  fight  behind ; 
and  a  little  stream  of  pure,  sweet  water  flowed  at  our  feet.  Had 
this  place  been  made  for  us  expressly  rt  could  not  better  have 
suited  our  purposes ;  and  finding  it  so  opportunely  put  fresh  heart 
into  us. 

Rayburn  hustled  us  all  about  sharply.  The  mules  and  the 
horses  and  El  Sabio  were  driven  into  the  canon,  and  we  were 
ranged  behind  the  fragments  of  rock  almost  in  a  moment.  Each 
man  had  his  Winchester  and  revolvers  in  readiness,  and  a  couple 
of  cases  of  cartridges  had  been  broken  out  from  the  packs  and 
put  where  we  all  had  easy  access  to  them.  While  this  work  was 
going  forward  we  could  hear  the  Indians  coming  hotly  up  the 
valley,  and  we  were  barely  ready  for  them  when  the  foremost 
of  their  party  came  in  sight. 

"Wait  a  little,"  said  Rayburn,  quietly.  "They  don't  know 
which  turn  we've  taken,  and  they'll  probably  get  into  a  bunch  to 

53 


54          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

do  some  talking,  and  then  we  can  whack  away  right  into  the 
flock." 

While  we  were  thus  making  ready  I  could  see  that  Fray 
Antonio  was  in  great  distress  of  mind.  He  was  a  very  brave 
man,  and  I  know  that  his  strong  desire  was  to  fight  with  the  rest 
of  us.  And  yet,  just  as  the  Indians  showed  themselves,  he  delib 
erately  turned  his  back  upon  them  and  walked  away  into  the 
canon's  depths.  His  very  lips  were  white,  and  there  were  beads 
of  sweat  upon  his  brow,  and  I  saw  that  his  fingers  twitched 
convulsively.  I  know  what  he  wanted  to  do,  and  I  saw  what 
he  did.  If  ever  a  man  showed  the  high  bravery  of  moral  courage, 
Fray  Antonio  showed  it  then.  Even  Young,  in  whom  I  did  not 
look  for  appreciation  of  bravery  of  that  sort,  said  afterwards 
that  it  was  the  pluckiest  thing  he  ever  saw. 

As  Rayburn  had  expected,  the  Indians  halted — but  keeping 
more  under  cover  than  he  had  counted  upon — and  held  some 
sort  of  a  council.  But  it  did  not  seem,  from  what  we  could  see 
of  their  gestures,  to  relate  to  the  way  that  we  might  have  taken 
so  much  as  to  the  canon  in  which  we  actually  were  concealed. 
They  pointed  towards  the  mouth  of  the  canon  repeatedly,  and  it 
struck  me  that  in  their  motions  there  was  a  curious  indication 
of  dread  or  awe.  One  old  man  was  especially  vehement  in  ges 
tures  of  this  unaccountable  nature;  and  when  at  last  the  younger 
men  in  the  council  seemed  to  revolt  against  his  orders,  this  man, 
and  all  the  older  men  with  him,  retired  down  the  valley  whence 
they  had  come. 

The  young  men,  left  to  themselves,  hesitated  for  a  moment, 
and  then  with  a  cry — as  though  for  their  own  encouragement — 
came  charging  towards  us  in  a  body.  As  we  got  a  full  view 
of  them  we  perceived  with  much  satisfaction  that  their  only 
arms  were  bows  and  arrows  and  long  spears,  and  that  there  were 
not  more  than  twenty  men  in  the  lot.  And  then  Rayburn  gave 
the  order  to  fire.  I  confess  that  my  hand  so  trembled  as  I  pulled 
the  trigger  of  my  rifle  that  I  was  not  at  all  surprised  to  find  that 
the  man  whom  I  had  fired  at — a  very  tall,  powerful  young  fellow, 
who  seemed  to  be  in  command — was  not  hit;  but  a  man  just 
behind  him  dropped,  and  I  had  a  queer  feeling  in  my  throat,  and 
certain  odd  sensations  in  my  stomach,  as  I  realized  that  I  had 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          55 

shot  him.  Indeed,  I  was  so  engrossed  with  meditations  upon 
the  curious  ease  with  which  a  man's  life  is  let  out  of  him,  that 
I  quite  forgot  for  some  seconds  to  continue  firing.  The  others, 
luckily,  conducted  themselves  in  a  more  practical  manner;  and 
the  little  whirlwind  of  balls  which  sped  from  the  Winchesters 
made  it  wonderful,  not  that  so  many  of  the  Indians  fell  dead 
or  wounded,  as  that  any  of  them  remained  alive  and  unhurt.  But 
eight  of  them  did  survive  their  charge  in  the  face  of  the  storm 
of  bullets  that  we  pelted  at  them ;  and  these — headed  by  the  tall 
fellow,  who  seemed  bullet-proof — came  rushing  at  us  over  our 
breastwork  of  rocks,  shouting  and  flourishing  their  long  spears. 

I  cannot  say  very  accurately  what  happened  during  the  next 
five  minutes  or  so,  for  one  of  the  Indians  came  directly  at  me, 
and  before  I  could  at  all  stop  him — for  I  found  that  shooting  at 
him  with  my  revolver  did  him  no  harm  at  all;  and  this  struck 
me  as  odd,  for  I  had  repeatedly  hit  the  mark  while  practising  in 
the  corral — he  had  prodded  his  spear  through  the  fleshy  part  of 
my  left  arm.  It  hurt  severely.  He  had  aimed  his  thrust,  doubt 
less,  at  my  heart,  and  he  certainly  would  have  penetrated  that 
vital  organ  had  I  not  at  that  moment  slipped,  and  so  disarranged 
his  aim.  He  pulled  the  spear  out  of  my  arm,  which  action  also 
gave  me  great  pain,  and  his  manner  indicated  that  he  was  about 
to  thrust  it  into  some  other  part  of  me;  which  he  surely  could 
have  done,  for  I  was  wholly  at  a  loss  as  to  what  measures  should 
be  taken  to  assure  my  own  safety.  Indeed,  I  was  very  well  con 
vinced  that  my  life  was  as  good  as  ended,  and  a  curious  flash  of 
thought  went  through  me  that  I  cannot  coherently  remember,  but 
that  was  in  the  nature  of  a  query  as  to  whether  or  not  in  a 
future  state  the  many  scientific  truths  which  as  yet  are  but  im 
perfectly  understood  will  be  wholly  revealed  to  us. 

However,  the  opportunity  that  I  confidently  expected  would 
be  given  to  me  in  a  moment  to  obtain  an  answer  to  this  interest 
ing  question  did  not  then  occur.  Just  as  the  Indian  was  lunging 
at  me — I  can  see  his  ugly  face  now,  as  I  close  my  eyes  and  let 
my  thoughts  turn  backward  to  that  critical  moment — there  was 
a  flash  of  some  bright  object  before  me,  and  then  the  Indian's 
entire  head  seemed  to  shut  up  suddenly,  something  like  an  opera- 
glass,  and  he  went  down  to  the  ground  like  a  stone.  As  I  turned, 


56          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

I  saw  that  my  deliverance  had  come  from  Pablo,  and  even  in 
that  very  exciting  moment  I  observed  with  astonishment  that  the 
weapon  with  which  he  had  slain  the  Indian  was  a  great  jagged 
sword — if  the  maccuahuitl  can  be  called  a  sword — such  as  the 
Aztecs  used  in  ancient  times.  I  could  not  then  conveniently 


THERE  WAS  ANOTHER  INDIAN  CLOSE  UPON  ME 

stop  to  question  him  whence  he  had  obtained  that  very  interest 
ing  weapon,  for  there  was  another  Indian  already  close  upon 
me;  and,  without  assistance  from  Pablo  or  from  anybody  else, 
I  managed  to  pick  up  my  rifle,  and  with  the  heavy  iron  barrel  of 
that  weapon,  used  clubwise,  I  mashed  the  head  of  that  Indian 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          57 

into  a  perfect  pulp.  I  know  positively  that  I  mashed  it  into 
a  pulp,  for  I  tried  afterwards  to  measure  it,  and  found  that  for 
craniological  purposes  it  was  utterly  valueless. 

Even  had  I  required  Pablo's  aid  in  this  encounter  he  could 
not  possibly  have  given  it  to  me,  for  he  was  himself  just  then 


YOUNG  CHECKED  HIM  BEFORE  HARM  WAS  DONE 

very  hotly  engaged.  Indeed,  but  for  assistance  that  came  to  him 
from  an  unexpected  quarter  his  life  assuredly  would  have  been 
lost.  He  was  in  the  act  of  hauling  back  to  strike  at  the  fellow 
facing  him,  and  he  did  not  at  all  know  that  he  was  in  imminent 
danger  of  a  thrust  in  the  back  from  a  wounded  wretch  who,  hav- 


58          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

ing  struggled  upon  his  knees,  was  using  what  little  life  was  left 
in  him  to  deliver  yet  another  blow.  Just  at  this  critical  instant  it 
was  that  Fray  Antonio  dashed  into  the  thick  of  the  fighting,  and 
covered  Pablo's  body  with  his  own  against  this  assault  in  the 
rear;  so  that,  as  the  Indian  struck,  the  knife  only  cut  through 
the  monk's  habit  and  slightly  scratched  his  arm,  instead  of 
making  a  hole  between  Pablo's  shoulder-blades  that  would  have 
let  the  life  out  of  him.  Young,  who  was  close  beside  Pablo, 
saw  what  was  going  on,  and  checked  it  before  further  harm  was 
done  by  turning  quickly  and  shooting  off  the  top  of  the  wounded 
Indian's  head;  and  then  Fray  Antonio  retired  out  of  the  fighting 
in  which,  without  himself  striking  a  blow,  he  had  taken  so  gallant 
a  part. 

So  far  as  I  was  concerned,  the  fight  was  at  an  end  when  I 
had  so  cleverly  mashed  the  head  of  my  second  assailant.  No 
more  Indians  came  at  me,  and  as  I  looked  around  I  perceived 
that  this  was  for  the  excellent  reason  that  there  were  no  more 
to  come.  Two  were  just  advancing  on  Young;  who  had  them 
covered  with  his  revolver,  and  dropped  them,  one  after  the  other, 
in  less  time  than  is  required  to  tell  about  it.  The  only  other  sur 
vivor  among  the  enemy — at  least  the  only  one  able  to  keep  his 
feet — was  the  tall  young  chief,  and  he  and  Rayburn  were  just 
finishing  the  last  round  of  what  probably  was  as  fine  a  fight  as 
ever  was  fought. 

As  I  caught  sight  of  them,  the  Indian  was  in  the  act  of 
springing  forward  and  delivering  a  tremendous  blow;  but  Ray- 
burn  most  skilfully  parried  this  blow  by  throwing  out  his  rifle,  still 
retained  in  his  left  hand,  in  such  a  manner  and  with  such  force 
that  the  Indian's  arm — at  the  same  time  striking  and  being 
struck  with  the  iron  barrel — was  broken  just  above  the  wrist. 
He  gave  a  yell  of  pain,  as  he  well  might;  but  he  was  a  plucky 
fellow,  and  instead  of  dropping  his  club  he  only  shifted  it  to  his 
right  hand.  He  never  had  a  chance  to  strike  again  with  it; 
for  in  that  same  instant  Rayburn  swung  his  revolver  at  arm's- 
length  through  the  air  and  brought  it  down  on  his  head  with  a 
sound  so  muffled  and  so  hollow  that  I  can  liken  it  only  to  the 
staving-in  of  the  head  of  a  full  cask.  For  a  moment,  while  Ray- 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          59 

burn  drew  back  to  strike  again,  the  Indian's  body  swayed  heavily; 
and  then  all  his  muscles  relaxed,  and  he  fell  heavily  and  limply 
to  the  ground — while  his  brains  spurted  out  from  the  ghastly 
trench  made  by  that  mighty  blow  from  back  to  front  across  the 
entire  top  of  his  skull. 


Chapter  VIII 

K \YBURN  stood  panting  for  a  moment  over  the  Indian's 
body;  and  then,  having  satisfied  himself  by  a  look  around 
among  our  fallen  enemies  that  every  one  of  them  was  either  dead 
or  dying,  he  stooped  down  beside  the  stream  to  drink  from  it,  and 
then  to  bathe  an  ugly  gash  in  his  forehead  made  by  a  spear  thrust 
that  luckily  had  glanced  aside. 

Indeed,  we  all  had  wounds  or  bruises  by  which  we  were  likely 
to  remember  our  fight  for  a  good  many  days  to  come.  And  both 
of  our  Otomi  Indians  were  dead. 

But  while  we  had  suffered  thus  severely  we  had  the  satisfac 
tion  of  knowing  that  we  had  inflicted  a  most  signal  punishment 
upon  our  enemies.  Of  the  whole  company  that  had  attacked 
us — eighteen  in  number,  as  we  found  by  counting  their  bodies 
— only  two  remained  alive  when  the  fight  ended ;  and  these  two 
speedily  relieved  us  of  all  responsibility  concerning  them  by  dying 
of  their  wounds.  As  Young  tersely  expressed  it,  we  had  "given 
the  whole  outfit  a  through  bill  of  lading  to  Kingdom  Come  1" 

Notwithstanding  the  pain  that  I  was  in,  the  first  thought  that 
came  to  me  after  we  had  achieved  peace  was  concerning  the 
strange  weapon  with  which  Pablo  had  been  fighting;  and  by  his 
prompt  use  of  which  in  my  defence  my  life  had  been  saved.  He 
had  laid  it  upon  a  rock — while  testing  the  integrity  of  his  mouth- 
organ — and  as  I  now  carefully  examined  it  I  found  that  my 
glimpse  of  it  as  Pablo  had  mashed  the  Indian's  head  had  not 
deceived  me.  It  truly  was  a  maccuahuitl,  the  primitive  Aztec 
sword,  identical  in  its  essential  features,  but  it  was  shorter,  nar 
rower,  and  thinner.  What  was  still  more  extraordinary  about  it 
was  that,  while  it  seemed  to  be  made  of  brass,  it  had  the  bright 
glitter  of  gold  and  the  temper  and  the  elasticity  of  steel.  Being 
tested  by  bending,  it  instantly  sprung  straight  again;  and  not 
withstanding  the  vigorous  use  that  Pablo  had  been  making  of 
it  on  the  bones  of  several  Indians,  the  thin  edges  of  the  projecting 
teeth  were  only  nicked  a  little. 

60 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          61 

Fray  Antonio,  by  this  time,  had  returned  to  us  again — looking 
rather  shamefaced  because  of  the  part  that  he  had  taken  in 
the  fight — and  I  eagerly  showed  him  this  strange  weapon  that 
had  been  so  strangely  found;  for  Pablo's  account  of  it  was 
simply  that,  just  as  his  revolver  was  emptied  upon  the  Indians 
charging  towards  us,  when  there  was  no  time  to  reload,  his 
eyes  were  caught  by  the  glitter  of  the  sword  as  it  stuck  in  a  cleft 
in  a  rock;  whereupon  he  most  gladly  seized  it — and  instantly 
used  it  to  good  purpose  upon  the  Indian  who  was  so  close  to 
ending  me  with  his  spear,  and  subsequently  contrived  with  it 
to  send  two  more  Indians  to  their  account. 

For  a  considerable  length  of  time,  we  stood  there,  among  the 
bodies  of  the  dead  Indians,  and  first  one  of  us  and  then  the  other 
handled  the  sword,  and  expressed  with  increasing  warmth  our 
contrasting  views  respecting  it  and  each  other;  and  we  might 
have  stood  there  much  longer  had  not  Young  taken  upon  himself 
to  bring  our  controversy  for  the  time  being  to  an  end. 

"I  don't  exactly  know  what  you  and  the  Padre  are  jawing 
about  at  such  a  rate,  Professor,"  he  struck  in;  "but  as  well  as  I 
can  catch  on,  it's  about  things  which  happened  three  or  four 
hundred  years  ago.  I  don't  want  to  interrupt  you,  of  course; 
but  I  do  want  the  Padre  to  do  something  to  plug  up  this  hole 
in  my  leg.  It's  bleeding  a  good  deal,  and  it  hurts  like  the  very 
devil.  And  I  guess  Rayburn'd  be  glad  to  have  that  slit  in  his 
forehead  tied  up  too." 

To  do  Fray  Antonio  justice,  he  took  this  interruption  in  better 
part  than  I  did;  for  I  was  deeply  interested  in  the  argument 
in  which  we  were  engaged,  and  wished  to  continue  it.  But  when 
I  explained  what  Young  wanted,  he  turned  to  him  at  once,  and 
very  tenderly  as  well  as  very  skilfully  dressed  his  wound;  and 
then  bandaged  the  gash  in  Rayburn's  forehead,  and  the  cut  in 
Pablo's  cheek.  Pablo  decidedly  objected  to  this  bandaging,  for 
it  put  a  peremptory  stop  for  a  while  to  his  playing  on  his  mouth- 
organ.  For  me  no  surgery  was  required.  Fray  Antonio  care 
fully  felt  my  shoulder  while  he  moved  my  arm — thereby  hurting 
me  most  horribly — and  as  the  result  of  his  investigations  he 
assured  me  that  the  bones  were  neither  broken  nor  out  of  place. 

Rayburn  also  examined  the  maccuahuitl  with  much  interest. 


62          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

"Of  course  it  is  not  brass,"  he  said,  "and  of  course  it  cannot  pos 
sibly  be  phosphor-bronze.  But,  if  such  a  thing  were  a  metal 
lurgical  possibility,  I  should  say  that  it  was  gold — treated  in  some 
manner  that  gives  it  as  great  a  hardness  as  bronze  receives  when 
treated  with  phosphorus,  but  with  some  chemical  change  wrought 
in  its  constitution  that  gives  it  also  the  tempered  quality  of  steel. 
Nothing  but  gold,  you  see,"  he  added,  "could  lie  around  out-of- 
doors  this  way  and  not  get  tarnished  by  oxidation." 

"What's  the  reason  that  it's  not  some  queer  thing  belonging 
to  the  folks  we're  looking  for?"  Young  asked;  and  his  question 
expressed  a  thought  that  already  had  found  a  lodging  in  my  own 
mind.  For  such  good-luck  as  this  would  be  I  was  quite  willing 
to  concede  that  Fray  Antonio  was  right  in  regard  to  the  shape 
of  the  Aztec  swords.  And  what  Young  said  also  put  me  sharply 
in  mind  of  the  graving  on  the  rock  of  the  King's  symbol,  that 
we  had  found  only  in  the  same  moment  to  lose  it  again.  To  this 
matter  I  now  adverted;  and  I  said  some  very  unpleasant  things 
about  the  Indians  who  had  prevented  us  from  following  the 
trail,  that  we  had  sought  for  so  laboriously,  when  we  did  find  it 
at  last — and  who  still,  for  we  doubted  not  that  the  main  body 
was  in  wait  for  us  lower  down  the  valley,  prevented  us  from 
returning  to  the  spot  where  we  had  seen  the  sign  and  thence 
systematically  continuing  our  search. 

"If  I  was  you,  Professor,"  said  Young  as  I  ceased  speaking, 
"I  wouldn't  be  so  everlastin'ly  down  on  these  poor  devils  of 
Indians  for  what  they've  done.  They  killed  Dennis,  an'  that's 
a  pretty  bad  business;  an'  they  got  away  with  our  two  mozos, 
too;  an'  they've  pretty  well  battered  th'  rest  of  us.  But  I  take 
it  that  we've  about  evened  things  up  by  killin'  eighteen  of  'em — 
or  six  of  their  crowd  dead  for  each  one  dead  in  ours.  I  guess  we 
can  call  that  part  of  th'  business  about  square.  But  what  I'm 
gettin'  at  is,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  Indians  we'd  never  have 
come  up  this  valley;  an'  so  we'd  never  have  struck  th'  King's 
symbol  trail  at  all." 

"But  what  good  did  it  do  us  to  find  it,  when  we  could  not 
follow  it?"  I  asked.  "We  cannot  go  back  to  examine  the  sign 
without  risking  our  lives;  and  unless  we  do  examine  it  we  cannot 
know  where  the  next  one  is,  and  so  the  trail  is  lost." 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          63 

"I've  just  been  waitin',"  said  Young,  "t'  see  if  I  was  th'  only 
man  in  this  party  that  God-a-mighty'd  given  a  pair  of  eyes  to.  I 
guess  I  am.  Suppose  you  just  get  up,  Professor,  an'  turn  around, 
an'  take  a  look  at  that  place  where  there's  a  brown  mark  on  th' 
side  of  th'  rock;  an'  suppose  th'  rest  of  you  look  there  too.  If 
that  isn't  th'  King's  symbol,  just  as  plain  as  th'  noses  in  all  your 
faces,  I'll  eat  every  dead  Indian  in  this  canon." 

And  Young  spoke  the  truth.  Just  above  the  cleft  whence 
Pablo  had  taken  the  sword,  graven  so  deeply  in  the  rock  that 
after  all  the  weathering  of  centuries  it  still  remained  distinct  and 
clear,  was  identically  the  same  figure  that  Fray  Francisco  in  the 
far  past  time  had  represented  in  his  letter,  and  that  was  repeated 
also  on  the  far  more  ancient  piece  of  gold.  Above  it  was  cut  an 
arrow  that  pointed  directly  up  the  canon. 

Here  was  cheer  indeed.  Not  only  had  we  surely  found  the 
trail  at  last,  but  we  found  it  leading  in  precisely  the  direction 
that  at  that  moment  we  desired  to  go.  Therefore  it  was  with 
good  heart  that  we  set  about  getting  as  far  into  the  depths  of 
the  canon  as  possible  before  night  should  be  wholly  upon  us. 
The  bodies  of  our  poor  Otomis  we  placed  in  a  deep  fissure  in  the 
rock,  and  there  heaped  stones  upon  them,  while  Fray  Antonio 
said  over  them  the  briefer  office;  but  the  body  of  Dennis  we 
carried  with  us,  that  we  might  give  him  a  more  tender  and  rev 
erent  burial  in  gratitude  for  his  brave  struggle  to  save  our  lives 
when  he  knew  that  his  own  life  was  lost.  The  eighteen  dead 
Indians  we  left  to  the  coyotes. 


Chapter  IX 


VERY  dismal  was  our  procession  of  faintly  seen  figures 
moving  cautiously  through  that  wild  solitude.  At  its  head 
went  Rayburn,  leading  his  horse,  on  which  was  Dennis's  dead 
body;  all  of  us,  being  bruised  and  cut  and  bleeding,  walked  slowly 
and  painfully.  Night  now  was  so  close  upon  us  that  had  not 
the  canon  in  which  we  were  run  east  and  west,  we  would  have 
been  for  some  time  past  in  darkness.  As  it  was  a  faint  light 
came  down  into  its  depths  and  so  we  could  see  to  pick  our  way, 
along  the  edge  of  the  little  stream,  among  the  rough  masses  of 
rock  and  trunks  of  trees  which  had  fallen  from  above. 

Our  march  ended  sooner  than  we  had  counted  on.  Before 
we  had  accomplished  more  than  half  a  mile  of  this  rough  travel 
ling,  there  loomed  before  us  a  wall  of  rock  which  shut  in  the  end 
of  the  canon,  and  which  rose  as  high  and  as  sheer  as  did  the 
canon's  sides.  If  our  course  in  this  direction  was  cut  off,  it  was 
evident  that  the  King's  symbol  graved  upon  the  rock  at  the 
entrance  of  the  canon  was  a  useless  and  misleading  sign. 

In  the  hope  that  we  might  find  a  sharp  turn,  we  pressed  on 
through  the  dusk  until  we  came  to  the  very  end  of  the  canon,  and 
the  dark  wall  of  rock  that  barred  our  way  rose  directly  above  our 
heads.  And  then  we  found,  not  a  turn  in  the  canon,  but  a  nar 
row  opening  (through  which  came  forth  the  little  stream)  into 
the  body  of  the  mountain  itself.  Yet  we  hesitated  about  entering 
this  black  gap — for  who  could  tell  what  depths,  unseen  in  that 
dense  darkness,  we  might  not  plunge  into  headlong? 

Much  dry  pine  wood,  branches  and  whole  trees,  lay  about  us 
in  the  canon;  and  of  this  apt  material  Rayburn  presently  con 
structed  a  great  torch.  Lighting  this  in  the  open  canon  was  not 
to  be  thought  of,  so  Rayburn  struck  a  wax-match  and  with  this 
to  light  his  way,  entered  the  narrow  pass;  and  in  his  wake  the 
rest  of  us  followed.  Almost  in  a  moment  the  walls  on  each 
side  of  us  spread  out  beyond  the  reach  of  the  narrow  circle  of 
light,  and  we  perceived  that  we  were  come  into  a  cave.  But 

64 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          '65 

before  we  could  at  all  discern  our  surroundings  the  match  was 
blown  out  by  a  sudden  suck  of  wind  setting  in  from  the  entrance, 
and  we  were  in  thick  darkness.  The  air  around  us  was  so  sweet 
and  so  fresh  that  we  knew  that  the  cave  must  be  large,  and  with 
more  than  one  opening — as,  indeed  the  suck  of  wind  inward 
through  the  passage  by  which  we  entered  clearly  showed.  While 
Rayburn  struck  another  match,  wherewith  to  light  the  torch,  we 
all  stood  still  in  our  places;  and  certain  tremors  went  through 
our  breasts  because  of  the  eeriness  of  our  surroundings. 

When  the  great  torch  blazed  up,  and  threw  everywhere  save 
towards  the  high  roof  a  flood  of  light,  a  real  and  rational  fear 
took  possession  of  us.  The  cave  was  nearly  circular,  and  at  its 
back,  directly  facing  the  entrance,  was  a  roughly  hewn  mass  of 
stone  on  which  rested  a  huge  stone  figure.  But  what  filled  us 
with  dread  was  not  this  impassive  stone  image.  Our  alarm 
came  from  a  much  more  natural  cause,  as  we  beheld,  squatted  on 
their  haunches  in  long  semicircular  rows,  facing  the  great  stone 
idol,  more  than  a  hundred  Indians.  Truly,  considering  that  our 
rifles  were  outside  the  cave  and  that  we  had  with  us  only  our 
revolvers,  our  momentary  thrill  of  terror  was  highly  natural. 

Yet  it  was  only  momentary.  The  Indians,  undisturbed  by 
our  presence  and  by  the  sudden  blaze  of  light,  remained  unmoved 
in  silent  worship  of  their  god;  and  Rayburn,  the  first  of  us  to 
recover  equanimity,  set  all  our  fears  to  flight  as  he  exclaimed: 
"These  are  not  the  fighting  kind.  Every  man  Jack  of  'em  is  as 
dead  as  Julius  Cassar.  We've  struck  an  Indian  bone-yard." 

Here,  then,  was  the  reason  why  a  part  of  the  force  that 
had  attacked  us  had  drawn  off  when  we  made  our  stand  at  the 
mouth  of  the  canon  that  led  to  this  home  of  the  dead.  Yet 
when,  by  the  light  of  the  torch,  we  examined  our  silent  fellow- 
tenants  of  the  cave,  it  did  not  seem  that  they  had  been  placed 
there  in  recent  times.  Indeed,  the  more  that  Fray  Antonio  and 
I  looked  closely  at  their  wrappings  and  noted  the  way  in  which 
their  mummied  forms  had  been  ranged  before  this  idol — that 
certainly  belonged  to  a  primitive  time — the  more  were  we  in 
clined  to  believe  that  this  weird  sepulchre  belonged  to  the  very 
far  back  past.  But  for  the  moment  it  mattered  not  to  us  whence 


66          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

these  dead  forms  came:  the  essential  matter  was  that  while  we 
remained  in  the  cave  with  them  we  were  in  absolute  safety. 

"Well,"  said  Young,  when  we  had  reached  this  comforting 
conclusion,  "since  it's  a  sure  thing  that  we're  all  right  here,  I 
move  that  we  make  ourselves  comfortable.  Let's  bring  in  th' 
stock,  an'  get  th'  packs  off;  an'  then  we'll  build  a  fire  an'  eat 
another  supper.  Fightin'  Indians  is  hungry  work,  an'  I  feel  as 
if  I  hadn't  had  anything  to  eat  for  a  week" — which  suggestions 
were  so  reasonable  that  we  at  once  proceeded  to  act  upon  them. 

It  was  hard  work  for  us,  wounded  and  sore  and  tired  as  we 
were,  to  unfasten  the  pack-cords;  and  still  harder  work  to  col 
lect  the  wood  for  our  fire.  But  we  managed  to  accomplish  it 
all  at  last;  and  most  comforting  and  refreshing  was  our  supper 
amid  those  extraordinary  surroundings. 

As  the  fire  crackled  and  blazed,  giving  out  a  plentiful  warmth 
that  in  that  chill  place  was  most  grateful  to  our  aching  bodies, 
our  spirits  seemed  to  brighten  with  its  brightness;  and  when 
the  rich  smell  of  strong  coffee  mingled  with  the  smell  of  stew 
ing  meats  told  that  Young's  cooking  was  nearly  ended,  we 
sniffed  hungrily  and  eagerly;  and  when  we  actually  fell  to  upon 
our  meal  I  remember  that  we  even  laughed  over  it. 

When  our  meal  was  ended,  and  we  were  for  stretching  out 
upon  our  blankets  before  the  fire  and  smoking  our  pipes  com 
fortably,  Fray  Antonio  reminded  us,  with  no  touch  of  harsh 
ness  in  his  voice,  that  a  last  duty  was  claimed  of  us  by  our 
dead  companion. 

And  truly,  the  funeral  ceremonies  over  Dennis  in  that  strange 
place  of  burial  made  the  most  curious  ending  of  a  man  that  ever 
I  saw.  In  the  fine  dry  sand  wherewith  the  cave  was  bedded, 
directly  in  front  of  the  altar  on  which  was  the  heathen  idol, 
we  dug  his  grave — toilsomely  and  with  pain,  for  all  of  our  bodies 
were  hurt  and  sore.  While  we  labored,  two  great  torches  flared 
upon  the  altar,  propped  against  the  idol;  and  long,  flickering 
rays  of  light  shot  out  to  us  across  the  mummied  bodies  of  the 
dead  Indians — striking  across  their  gleaming  teeth,  so  that  they 
seemed  to  smile  at  us — from  the  huge  blaze  of  the  fire. 

Gently  we  bore  the  body  of  poor  Dennis  from  its  resting- 
place  before  the  altar  to  its  last  resting-place  in  the  grave  that 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          67 

we  had  dug  there,  while  Fray  Antonio  said  the  Miserere;  and 
as  with  our  pack-ropes  we  lowered  the  body  into  the  earth,  the 
priest  sang  the  Benedictus,  with  its  promise  of  a  better  life  to 
come ;  and  then  a  prayer  ended  all,  and  we  filled  in  the  grave. 

When  all  was  ended  we  were  glad  enough  to  lie  down  to  give 
our  battered  bodies  rest  in  sleep.  We  felt  sure  that  no  attack 
would  be  made  upon  us;  yet  we  rolled  some  fragments  of  rock 
into  the  narrow  entrance  to  the  cave,  arranging  them  in  such 
a  way  that  they  would  fall  with  a  crash  should  any  attempt  be 
made  to  move  them  from  outside.  And,  this  precaution  having 
been  taken,  we  lay  down  upon  our  blankets  thankfully,  and 
never  troubled  ourselves  to  keep  any  watch  at  all. 

It  was  brilliantly  light  when  we  awoke,  for  the  rays  of  the 
just-risen  sun  were  striking  strongly  into  the  cave  through  its 
entrance-way;  and  much  light  came  also  through  a  crevice  higher 
up,  and  through  a  great  hole  in  the  vastly  high  roof.  Viewed 
in  this  clearer  light,  there  was  a  horrible  ghastliness  about  the 
mummies  ranged  in  their  orderly  rows,  and  presided  over  by  the 
coarsely  carved,  coarsely  conceived  stone  figure  that  in  life  they 
had  worshipped  as  their  god.  On  this  image  the  sunshine  fell 
full,  and  we  perceived  that  its  position  evidently  had  been  chosen 
carefully,  so  that  the  very  first  ray  of  light  from  the  rising  sun 
would  strike  upon  it.  No  doubt,  in  ancient  times,  this  cave 
had  been  a  temple  as  well  as  a  place  of  sepulchre. 

We  were  well  rested  by  our  long  and  sound  sleep;  but  the 
pain  which  was  everywhere  in  our  bodies,  made  life  for  a  time 
almost  intolerable.  Moreover,  the  languorous  reaction  fol 
lowing  the  undue  exaltation  that  came  of  our  battling  and  es 
cape  was  upon  us;  so  that  our  pain  of  body  was  accompanied 
by  a  most  sombre  and  melancholy  cast  of  mind. 

And,  in  truth,  our  plight  was  such  that  we  stood  in  much 
need  of  comforting.  Not  only  were  we  sick  with  our  many 
hurts,  but  we  were  also  prisoners.  By  the  full  light  of  day  we 
examined  carefully  the  cave,  and  found  no  outlet  to  it;  and 
we  examined  carefully,  also,  the  walls  of  the  canon  through 
out  its  full  length,  and  made  sure  that  there  was  no  path  lead 
ing  upward  whereby  a  man  could  go.  And  escape  down  the 
valley  was  cut  off,  for  the  Indians — who  knew,  no  doubt,  the 


68 

manner  of  place  we  were  caught  in — were  on  guard  and  watch 
ing  for  us;  which  fact  came  sharply  to  our  knowledge  with  a 
half-dozen  arrows  that  dropped  among  us  as  we  went  out  a  lit 
tle  way  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  canon  to  see  if  the  way  was 
open  to  us. 

And  the  fact  that  the  King's  symbol  had  proved  a  false  guide 
also  was  a  source  of  deep  concern  to  us.  By  the  full  strength 
of  daylight  we  again  examined  the  graving  at  the  entrance  to  the 
canon,  and  there  was  no  mistaking  the  way  in  which  the  arrow 
pointed.  And,  what  was  even  more  perplexing  and  dishearten 
ing,  we  found  the  graving  repeated  at  the  entrance  to  the  cave, 
and  the  arrow  pointing  directly  towards  the  statue  of  Chac- 
Mool.  It  was  impossible  that  this  cave,  with  mummies  only 
for  inhabitants,  could  be  the  walled  city  wherein  the  reserve 
force  of  men  and  treasure  had  been  hid;  and  yet  here,  obviously, 
was  the  end  of  the  trail.  Of  this  we  convinced  ourselves  by 
searching  the  cave  exhaustively  for  another  outlet — even  sound 
ing  the  walls  in  the  hope  that  we  might  find  a  passage  that  had 
been  artificially  concealed.  As  Rayburn  tersely  put  it,  we  were 
no  better  than  so  many  rats  in  a  trap  with  terriers  waiting  for 
us  outside. 


Chapter  X 

FOUR  more  days  went  by  very  wearily.  Our  wounds  were 
healing — for  we  all  were  in  good  condition  as  the  result 
of  our  vigorous  life  in  the  open  air — but  they  still  kept  us  in 
constant  pain,  and  so  tended  to  increase  our  melancholy.  Out  in 
the  valley,  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  canon,  the  Indians  main 
tained  their  watchful  guard.  Rayburn  tried  the  experiment  of 
holding  a  hat  and  coat  out  on  a  pole,  standing  himself  under 
cover  of  the  rock,  and  in  an  instant  a  pair  of  arrows  went 
through  the  dummy;  and  as  one  of  these  came  from  the  right 
and  the  other  from  the  left,  it  was  evident  that  in  both  direc 
tions  the  valley  was  picketed. 

We  were  safe  enough  for  the  time  being,  of  course.  Even 
should  the  Indians  overcome  their  superstitious  dread  and  enter 
the  canon — which  was  not  probable,  for  they  had  not  even 
ventured  to  remove  their  dead — they  could  not  possibly  make 
a  successful  attack  upon  us  in  the  cave. 

"It's  not  a  bad  thing  that  we're  safe,"  said  Young,  "an*  that 
we've  got  plenty  of  grub  an'  water,  an'  even  lots  of  firewood; 
if  we've  got  t'  be  shut  up  here  we  might  as  well  be  comfortable. 
But  what  I  want  is  a  through  ticket  for  home.  This  treasure 
business  has  gone  back  on  us  th'  worst  kind.  That  old  Fray 
Francisco  had  his  eye  shut  up  by  th'  tall  talk  of  th'  fellow  who 
pretended  to  be  converted;  and  th'  Cacique  just  promiscuously 
lied.  That's  about  the  size  of  it.  An'  for  bein'  fools  enough 
to  swallow  their  stuff,  here  we  are,  as  Rayburn  says,  like  rats 
in  a  cage." 

There  was  so  much  probability  in  what  Young  said  that  I  did 
not  attempt  to  argue  with  him;  yet  was  I  convinced  that  in  what 
Fray  Francisco  had  written,  and  still  more  in  what  the  dying 
Cacique  had  said  to  me,  there  was  a  substantial  element  of  truth. 

Finding  that  nobody  replied  to  him,  for  all  of  us  were  sore  at 
heart  and  so  disposed  to  silence,  Young  turned  to  the  statue  of 
Chac-Mool  and  proceeded  to  abuse  it  vigorously,  on  the  ground 

69 


7o          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

that  it  was  an  idolatrous  product  of  the  Aztec  race  that  was  at 
the  root  of  all  our  troubles.  His  attention  having  been  thus 
fixed  upon  the  idol,  his  habit  of  investigation  got  the  better  of 
his  ill-will  towards  it,  and  he  mounted  the  altar  to  examine  it 
more  closely — continuing  the  while  to  address  it  in  language 
that  was  eminently  unparliamentary. 

"A  pretty-looking  sort  a  specimen  you  are  1"  he  said,  in  a  tone 
of  vast  contempt.  "But  you're  about  what  I'd  expect  folks 
like  that  friend  of  th'  Professor's,  th'  Cacique,  t'  worship.  It 
takes  a  low  sort  of  a  heathen,  even  in  his  blindness,  t'  bow  down 
to  a  stone  like  you — with  your  twisted  head,  an'  your  stubby 
legs,  an'  your  little  fryin'-pan  over  your  stomach.  Why,  where 
I  come  from  they  wouldn't  have  you  even  for  a  stone  settee  in 
a  park.  No,  you're  not  fit  even  t'  sit  on — unless,  maybe,  it's  on 
th'  flat  top  of  your  crooked  head";  and  by  way  of  testing  this 
possibility,  Young  seated  himself  on  the  head  of  Chac-Mool. 

And  then  a  very  extraordinary  thing  happened.  The  idol, 
and  the  great  slab  of  stone  on  which  it  rested  and  of  which 
it  was  a  part,  slowly  moved;  the  head  sinking,  and  the  other 
end  of  the  slab,  on  which  the  legs  were  carved,  rising  in  the 
air !  Young  sprang  up  with  a  cry  as  he  felt  the  stone  sinking  be 
neath  him;  and  the  figure,  relieved  of  his  weight,  settled  back 
into  its  former  position  with  a  slight  jar.  In  the  moment  that 
the  slab  was  in  the  air  there  had  come  from  under  it  a  gleam  of 
light. 

In  the  excitement  wrought  by  this  strange  accident  our  hurts 
were  forgotten;  and  we  eagerly  clambered  upon  the  altar  to 
investigate  the  matter  further,  while  hope  and  wonder  thrilled 
our  hearts. 

"Now,  then,  Young,"  said  Rayburn,  "try  it  again.  It  looks 
as  though  this  idol  wasn't  all  the  blackguard  things  you've  been 
calling  it,  by  a  long  shot." 

"No,  I'll  be  hanged  if  I'll  try  it  again,"  Young  answered. 
"Try  it  yourself,  if  you  want  to.  How  do  I  know  what's  goin' 
t*  happen  with  a  stone  thing  that  goes  tippin'  around  that  way? 
I  don't  mind  sayin'  that  I'm  a  good  deal  jolted,  an'  don't  feel 
like  foolin'  with  it  any  more.  Try  it  yourself,  if  you  want  to, 
I  say." 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          71 

"All  right,"  Rayburn  answered.  "You  and  the  Professor 
stand  here  where  you  can  grab  me  if  anything  goes  wrong.  It 
looks  to  me  as  though  there  was  a  chance  for  us  of  some  sort 
here,  and  I  mean  to  see  what  it  is." 

Young  and  I  stood  on  each  side  of  Rayburn  and  held  him 
by  the  arms  as  he  seated  himself  on  the  idol's  head.  Borne  down 
by  his  weight,  the  head  slowly  sank,  the  whole  fore-end  of  the 
stone  slab  falling  away  into  the  rock,  and  the  after-end  corre 
spondingly  rising  and  disclosing  a  squared  opening,  through 
which  came  a  strong  burst  of  light.  When  the  head  was  down 
to  the  level  of  the  rock,  and  the  slab  stood  up  at  an  angle  of 
nearly  fifty  degrees,  the  movement  ceased.  Looking  into  the 
opening  we  saw  a  flight  of  a  dozen  stone  steps.  On  the  bot 
tom  step  the  sun  shone  brightly,  and  in  our  faces  blew  a  draught 
of  fresh,  sweet  air.  On  the  rock,  beside  the  stair-way,  was 
carved  the  King's  symbol,  with  the  arrow  pointing  downward. 

"Hurrah!"  cried  Young.  "Here's  a  way  out — an'  it  looks  as 
if  that  old  monk  an'  th'  Cacique  weren't  such  a  pair  of  blasted 
liars  after  alll" 

Rayburn  jumped  up  to  have  a  look  with  the  rest  of  us;  but 
before  he  could  see  anything  the  statue  had  fallen  into  place 
again  and  the  opening  was  closed.  "No  matter,  we  know  how 
to  work  it,  now,"  he  said.  "We  must  prop  it  up  somehow;  that's 
all.  I  want  to  have  a  look  at  this  thing.  There's  some  mighty 
good  engineering  shown  in  the  way  the  centre  of  gravity  of 
that  stone  has  been  calculated;  and  there's  good  mechanism  in  the 
way  it's  hung.  Here  she  goes  again.  Just  chock  it  with  a  bit 
of  rock  when  I  swing  it  open." 

"Well,  what  I'm  interested  in,"  said  Young,  "is  findin'  out 
what  sort  of  a  place  it'll  get  us  into.  It  looks  to  me  as  if  we 
might  be  goin'  to  strike  the  treasure  right  smack  here." 

Much  the  same  notion  was  in  all  of  our  heads  by  this  time, 
and  we  were  full  of  eagerness — the  statue  having  been  swung 
again,  and  propped  in  place  with  a  fragment  of  rock — as  we 
went  down  the  little  stair.  But  what  we  found  was  only  a  con 
tinuation  of  the  canon — as  though,  by  some  curious  freak  of 
nature,  the  thin  walls  of  rock  enclosing  the  cave  had  been  left 
thus  in  the  very  middle  of  it.  How  far  away  the  outlet  might 


72          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

be  we  could  not  tell ;  for  the  canon,  half  a  mile  or  so  from  wKere 
we  stood,  bent  sharply  to  the  right.  But  being  thus  assured 
that  a  way  of  some  sort  out  of  our  prison  was  open  to  us,  we 
turned  to  examine  the  work  of  the  skilled  mechanics  who  in 
some  far  past  time  had  set  this  swinging  statue  in  its  place.  Into 
the  great  slab  of  stone,  presumably  running  through  it  from 
side  to  side,  was  set  a  round  bar  of  metal — the  same  bright 
metal  of  which  the  sword  was  made — more  than  a  foot  in  diam 
eter;  and  this  worked  in  two  concave  metal  sockets  in  much 
the  same  manner  that  the  sockets  of  a  gun-carriage  hold  the 
trunnions  of  a  gun.  What  struck  Rayburn  as  especially  re 
markable  was  the  trueness  to  a  circle  of  both  the  sockets  and  the 
bar;  both  showing,  as  he  declared,  that  they  had  been  worked 
upon  a  lathe.  And  he  was  puzzled,  as  in  the  case  of  the  sword, 
as  to  the  composition  of  the  metal  that  thus  defied  oxidization 
through  long  periods  of  time.  "Gold  is  the  only  thing  that 
fills  the  bill,"  he  said;  "but  a  bar  of  gold,  even  of  that  size, 
would  bend  double  under  such  a  strain.  I'd  give  ten  dollars 
for  a  chance  to  analyze  it — for  there's  a  bigger  fortune  in  put 
ting  a  metal  like  that  on  the  market  than  there  is  in  finding  this 
treasure  that  we're  hunting  for:  especially  if  it  turns  out  that 
there  isn't  any  treasure  to  find." 

"Now,  don't  you  go  t'  runnin'  down  that  treasure,"  Young 
struck  in.  "Just  now  treasure  stock  is  up.  Me  an'  that  idol 
have  just  boomed  th'  market.  I'm  sorry  I  called  Jack  Mullins, 
or  whatever  his  name  is,  such  a  lot  of  cuss-word  names.  I  take 
'em  all  back.  He  isn't  just  th'  sort  of  an  idol  that  I'd  pick  out 
t'  worship  myself,  at  least  not  as  a  steady  thing;  but  there  are 
good  points  about  him — especially  th'  way  he  tips  up.  I  always 
did  like  an  idol  that  tipped  up.  He's  done  th'  square  thing  by  us 
in  gettin'  us  out  all  right  from  th'  worst  sort  of  a  hole;  an'  I 
guess  th'  best  thing  we  can  do  is  t'  yank  our  traps  out  of  that 
cave  an'  get  started  again.  Why,  for  all  we  know,  th'  treasure 
may  be  right  around  that  corner." 

There  was  no  doubt  as  to  the  soundness  of  Young's  sugges 
tion  in  regard  to  resuming  our  march ;  but  the  very  serious  fact 
confronted  us  that  we  now  must  do  our  marching  on  foot.  To 
get  the  horses  and  mules  down  through  the  narrow  openings 


HURRAH  !"    CRIED    YOUNG.       "HERE'S    A    WAY    OUT* 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          73 

was  simply  impossible,  and  there  was  nothing  for  us  but  to  leave 
them  behind.  Rayburn  looked  very  grave  over  this  phase  of 
the  matter,  for  leaving  the  mules  meant  also  that  we  must  leave 
the  greater  part  of  our  ammunition  and  stores. 

It  was  not  very  cheerfully,  therefore,  that  we  went  back  into 
the  cave  and  began  to  sort  out  from  our  packs  the  articles 
which  would  be  absolutely  necessary  to  our  preservation  in  the 
rough  work  among  the  mountains  that  probably  was  before  us; 
and  our  shoulders  already  ached  a  little  in  anticipation  of  the 
heavy  loads  which  they  must  bear. 

It  was  while  we  were  thus  engaged  that  Pablo  begged  that 
I  would  step  aside  with  him  for  a  moment  that  he  might  speak 
to  my  ear  alone.  I  saw  that  there  were  tears  upon  his  cheeks, 
and  as  he  spoke  he  scarcely  could  restrain  his  sobs. 

"Senor,"  he  said,  "y°u  know  El  Sabio?" 

"Surely,  Pablo." 

"You  know,  senor,  that  he  is  a  very  small  ass." 

"It  is   true." 

"And  you  know — you  know,  scnor,  how  very  tenderly  we 
love  each  other.  Since  I  came  away  from  my  father  and  my 
mother,  in  Guadalajara,  and  from  my  little  brother  and  sister 
there,  El  Sabio  is  everything  in  the  world  to  me,  senor.  I — I 
cannot  leave  him,  senor.  I  should  die  if  we  were  parted ;  and  El 
Sabio  would  die  also.  And  you  say  that  you  have  perceived 
that  he  is  a  very  small  ass.  Do  not  ask  me  to  leave  him,  senor." 

"But  we  cannot  take  him  with  us,  Pablo.  What  would  you 
have?" 

"That  is  it,  senor;  truly,  I  think  that  we  can  take  him  with 
us.  You  see,  he  is  so  little;  and  it  is  quite  wonderful  through 
how  small  a  place  El  Sabio  can  crawl.  He  can  creep  like  a  kitten, 
senor,  and  he  can  make  himself  into  a  very  little  bunch.  I  think 
that  we  can  get  him  down  through  the  hole,  and  so  take  him 
with  us.  But  if  we  cannot,  senor,  then — you  must  forgive  me, 
senor — I  love  him  so  very  dearly,  you  know — then  I  will  stay 
with  him  here.  It  would  be  better  so  than  that  El  Sabio  should 
think  I  no  longer  loved  him.  And  he  would  think  that,  senor, 
were  I  to  go  with  you  and  leave  him  here  among  these  dreadful 
dead  gentlemen  alone." 


74          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

It  had  not  occurred  to  any  of  us  that  El  Sabio  might  be  con 
densed  sufficiently  to  go  through  the  narrow  way ;  but  if  he  truly 
were  the  collapsible  donkey  that  Pablo  declared  him  to  be,  we 
had  a  good  deal  to  be  thankful  for.  He  was  a  sturdy  little 
creature,  and  his  small  back  could  bear  easily  twice  as  much  as 
any  two  of  ours.  With  his  assistance  we  certainly  would  be 
able  to  carry  with  us  all  of  our  ammunition  and  arms — of  which 
defensive  stuff  we  could  not  well  afford  to  spare  the  smallest 
part. 

El  Sabio,  after  Pablo  had  made  a  long  explanation  of  the 
case  to  him,  and  had  told  him  precisely  what  we  expected  him 
to  do — to  all  of  which  he  listened  gravely  and  with  an  astonish 
ing  air  of  comprehending  what  was  said  to  him — seemed  to 
enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  situation,  and  to  try  his  very  best  to 
meet  its  requirements.  It  is  a  puzzle  to  me  to  his  day  how 
El  Sabio  managed  to  shrink  himself  so  that  we  got  him  through 
that  narrow  hole;  but  he  certainly  did  manage  it — and  then 
went  down  the  stone  stair-way  backward,  as  though  he  had 
been  trained  to  be  a  trick  donkey  from  his  youth  up.  When 
the  feat  was  accomplished,  and  he  stood  safely  out  in  the  canon, 
the  expressions  of  love,  and  of  congratulation  upon  his  clever 
ness,  which  Pablo  lavished  upon  him  were  enough  to  have 
turned  completely  a  less  serious-minded  donkey's  head. 

Such  of  our  stores  as  we  were  compelled  to  leave  behind  us, 
including  our  saddles,  and  the  pack-saddles,  and  all  the  heavier 
portion  of  our  camp  equipage,  we  heaped  in  one  corner  of  the 
cave  and  piled  rocks  over;  and  then  we  turned  our  poor  horses 
and  the  mules  loose  in  the  canon. 

All  being  thus  in  readiness  for  our  advance,  we  went  down 
the  stair-way  beneath  the  swinging  statue,  and  from  beneath 
pulled  out  the  piece  of  rock  which  propped  up  the  great  mass 
of  stone.  With  a  heavy  jar  it  fell  and  closed  the  passage-way, 
and  we  prepared  to  start.  Just  then  Fray  Antonio  remembered 
that  he  had  left  on  a  ledge  in  the  cave — a  little  volume  that  he 
dearly  loved:  the  Meditations  of  Thomas  a  Kempis.  His  dis 
tress  over  the  loss  of  it  was  so  evident  that  we  had  not  the  heart 
to  go  on. 

"It  will  take  only  ten  minutes  to  go  back,"  said  Rayburn,  and 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          75 

as  he  spoke  he  ran  up  the  stair-way  and  set  his  shoulders  to 
sway  up  the  stone.  In  a  moment  he  called  "Just  come  here, 
Young,  and  help,  will  you?  It  don't  work  as  easily  from  this 
side."  But  even  with  Young's  help  the  stone  did  not  move. 
Then  the  rest  of  us  joined  these  two,  and  all  five  of  us  together 
pushed  with  all  our  strength — and  the  stone  did  not  yield  by 
so  much  as  the  breadth  of  a  hair !  And  then  rather  a  queer  look 
came  into  Rayburn's  face,  and  he  said:  "I  think  that  I  under 
stand  what  is  the  matter.  The  point  of  leverage  falls  beyond 
the  edge  of  the  hole.  From  where  we  have  a  chance  to  push, 
we  are  working  against  the  whole  weight  of  the  stone.  We 
might  as  well  try  to  lift  the  mountain  itself!"  And  then  he 
added,  "I  guess  we'd  better  give  this  thing  up  and  start." 

Very  curious  feelings  were  in  our  breasts  as  we  picked  up 
our  packs  and  set  off  along  the  canon;  for  we  knew  that  by 
that  way  only  could  we  go,  and  that,  no  matter  what  was  ahead 
of  us,  our  retreat  was  cut  off. 


Chapter  XI 

A  SWEET,  warm  wind  blew  in  our  faces  as  we  set  off  along 
JL\.  the  canon;  the  sun  shone  joyously  upon  us,  and  there  was 
that  fresh,  tingling  quality  in  the  air  that  is  peculiar  to  regions 
high  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
way  behind  us  was  irrevocably  barred,  and  that  no  matter  what 
dangers  were  ahead  of  us  we  had  no  option  but  to  face  them,  our 
spirits  were  strong  within  us,  and  we  went  blithely  on  our  way. 
Young,  who  was  in  advance,  began  to  whistle  "Yankee  Doodle" ; 
and  presently,  from  the  rear  of  our  procession,  where  Pablo 
walked  beside  the  heavily  laden  El  Sabio,  there  broke  forth  a 
mouth-organ  accompaniment  to  this  spirited  melody. 

The  bed  of  the  canon,  through  which  a  little  stream  ran,  fell 
away  before  us  along  a  slight  down  grade ;  which  descent,  since 
we  found  also  a  good  foot-way  beside  the  stream,  made  walking 
comparatively  easy  notwithstanding  our  heavy  back-loads. 

So  we  went  on  for  half  a  dozen  miles  or  more  through  the 
windings  of  the  canon,  but  keeping  all  the  while  a  sharp  lookout 
ahead — for  in  the  mouth  of  this  end  of  the  canon,  supposing 
it  to  open  as  at  the  other  end  upon  a  grassy  valley,  we  well  enough 
might  come  upon  an  Indian  camp.  And  that  we  had  come 
upon  such  a  camp  we  felt  quite  sure  when,  late  in  the  afternoon, 
Rayburn  signalled  us  from  his  advanced  position — he  having 
gone  to  the  head  of  the  line  in  Young's  place — to  stand  still 
until  he  should  reconnoitre  a  little.  Being  thus  halted,  we 
unslung  our  rifles  and  loosened  our  pistols  in  their  holsters,  so 
that  we  might  be  ready  in  case  fighting  suddenly  should  begin; 
and  Rayburn  went  on  around  a  turn  in  the  canon,  and  for  a  while 
we  lost  sight  of  him. 

Presently  he  returned  and  signalled  us  to  join  him,  but  to 
move  cautiously.  When  we  came  up  with  him  he  led  us  to  the 
bend  in  the  canon,  and  there  a  broad  view  opened  to  us;  for 
the  canon  suddenly  widened  into  a  great  valley,  that  was  every 
where,  so  far  as  we  could  see,  surrounded  by  walls  of  rock 

76 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          77 

almost  perpendicular  and  vastly  high.  In  the  bottom  of  the 
valley  was  a  broad  expanse  of  delectably  green  meadow-land, 
broken  here  and  there  by  groves  of  trees;  and  in  the  valley's 
middle  part,  reaching  from  side  to  side  of  it,  was  a  lovely  lake, 
whereof  the  blue  was  flecked  by  white  reflections  of  certain  little 
idly  drifting  clouds. 

Rayburn  and  Young,  as  was  evident  from  their  anxious  looks, 
were  thinking  only  of  the  dangers  which  this  lovely  valley  might 
hold  in  store  for  us;  for  the  shore  of  the  lake  nearest  to  us 
had  many  houses  built  upon  it,  and  we  could  see  faintly,  for  the 
width  of  the  lake  was  nearly  two  miles,  that  there  were  other 
houses  upon  its  farther  shore.  Standing  hidden  behind  a  rock, 
Rayburn  examined  the  valley  carefully  through  a  field-glass  for 
a  long  while. 

"I  must  say  this  place  beats  me,"  he  said  at  last,  as  he  put 
the  glass  down  from  his  eyes.  "There's  no  doubt  about  there 
being  a  town  down  there ;  but  I  can't  make  out  a  sign  of  a  single 
living  thing.  And  what  is  still  queerer,  the  houses  seem  to  go 
right  down  into  the  lake.  If  you'll  take  the  glass,  Professor, 
you'll  see  that  a  few  of  them,  on  this  side,  stand  all  right  on 
dry  ground;  and  then,  farther  down  the  sloping  bank,  are  a  lot 
in  the  water;  and  beyond  these  there  seem  to  be  some  roofs 
just  showing  above  the  level  of  the  lake.  And  as  far  as  I  can 
make  out,  things  are  just  the  same  over  on  the  far  shore.  It 
looks  as  if  the  lake  had  risen  after  the  town  was  built." 

As  I  looked  through  the  glass  I  saw  that  what  Rayburn  had 
said  was  true;  and  I  observed  with  much  interest  that  many  of 
the  houses  were  large,  and  that  all  seemed  to  be  well  built  of 
stone.  Young  and  Fray  Antonio  took  the  glass,  in  turn,  and, 
as  none  of  us  saw  any  signs  of  life  in  the  valley,  we  decided  to 
go  on.  And  we  were  mightily  stimulated  in  this  resolve  by 
finding,  just  at  the  end  of  the  canon,  where  the  sharp  descent 
began,  a  graving  of  the  King's  symbol  on  the  rock,  with  the  arrow 
pointing  directly  down  the  steep  path. 

"Here's  a  walled  city,  for  sure,"  said  Young;  "and  if  this 
is  where  th'  treasure-house  is,  we  won't  raise  a  row  because  th' 
folks  have  gone  off  an'  left  it.  Just  whoop  up  that  burro  of 
yours,  Pablo,  an'  let's  be  gettin'  along.  It's  a  pity  we  had  t' 


78          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

leave  th'  mules  behind.    If  th'  treasure's  in  silver,  we  can't  get 

away  with  much  of  it  with  nothin'  but  El  Sabio  t'  pack  it  on." 

Pablo  grinned,  and  "whooped  up"  El  SabTo;  and  we  all  set 


PRESENTLY     HE     RETURNED     AND     SIG 
NALLED   US  TO  TO  JOIN   HIM,   BUT  TO 
MOVE  CAUTIOUSLY 


off  briskly  down  the  steep  decline. 

Presently  we  found  our  way  much  easier  than  we  had  been 
led  to  expect  by  its  rough  beginning.    As  we  advanced  along  it 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          79 

there  was  ample  evidence  that  the  path  had  been  graded  and 
smoothed  by  the  hand  of  man.  In  several  places  it  was  carried 
on  a  terrace  supported  by  a  well-laid  retaining  wall;  a  deep 


AS  I  LOOKED  THROUGH  THE  GLASS  I  SAW 

THAT      WHAT      RAYBURN       HAD      SAID 

WAS  TRUE 


crevice  was  spanned  by  long  slabs  of  stone,  so  placed  as  to  form  a 
bridge;  and  where  it  turned  sharply  around  a  high  shoulder  of 
rock,  the  face  of  the  cliff  had  been  quarried  away.  Yet  that  this 


8o 

all  had  been  done  in  a  very  remote  time  was  shown  by  the  frag 
ments  of  rock  which  had  fallen  into  it  here  and  there,  and  which 
were  blackened  by  age.  "The  same  fellow  who  set  that  statue  in 
place  probably  was  in  charge  here,"  was  Rayburn's  comment, 
"and  he  was  a  first-rate  engineer.  I  wish  I  knew  how  he  man 
aged  to  swing  those  stone  slabs  over  that  crevice.  There's  no 
room  there  to  set  up  a  derrick,  and  it  would  puzzle  me  to  set 
blocks  like  that  without  one." 

And  Rayburn's  admiration  for  the  professional  skill  of  this 
engineer  of  a  long  past  age  was  still  further  excited  when  the 
path  came  fairly  into  the  valley,  and  thence  was  carried  down 
ward  along  the  gentle  slope  towards  the  lake,  by  a  perfectly 
even  two-per-cent.  grade,  over  a  broad  way  paved  smoothly 
with  squared  blocks  of  stone. 

By  this  paved  avenue  we  entered  the  city — for,  as  we  pres 
ently  found,  it  was  entitled  to  this  more  dignified  name.  The 
first  houses  that  we  came  to  were  but  small  buildings  enclosing 
a  single  room — such  as  are  found,  inhabited  by  working-people, 
on  the  outskirts  of  any  Mexican  city  at  the  present  day.  They 
were  silent  and  deserted ;  but  they  gave,  at  first  sight,  the  impres 
sion  of  being  but  momentarily  abandoned,  for  the  belongings  of 
their  owners  still  remained  in  them  as  though  the  every-day 
affairs  of  life  still  went  on  within  their  walls.  In  the  first  that 
we  entered  we  found  an  earthen  pot  still  standing  on  a  sort 
of  fireplace,  and  beside  the  fireplace  a  little  pile  of  charcoal. 
There  was  a  fragment  of  bone  in  the  pot,  and  beneath  it  were 
some  scraps  of  charcoal  which  remained  unconsumed.  It  was 
as  though  cooking  had  been  going  on  here  but  an  hour  before. 
Rayburn  even  put  his  hand  into  the  ashes  to  feel  if  they  still 
were  warm.  But  closer  investigation  gave  us  a  juster  notion 
of  the  long  lapse  of  time  that  must  have  occurred  since  any 
fire  had  burned  upon  this  hearth.  In  one  corner  of  the  room 
we  found  a  pile  of  mats,  but  on  touching  these  they  crumbled 
into  fragments  in  our  hands;  and  the  bone  in  the  pot  was  so 
dry  and  so  porous  that  it  was  light  as  cork. 

As  in  this  first  house  that  we  examined,  so  was  it  in  all  of 
them.  All,  at  the  first  glance,  seemed  to  have  been  but  a  mo 
ment  before  deserted;  but  all  had  signs  about  them  which 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          81 

showed  that  they  had  been  abandoned  for  a  very  long  time.  In 
one  we  found  a  loom — in  construction  very  like  that  which  the 
Navajo  Indians  use  at  the  present  day — on  which  hung,  partly 
completed,  a  sheer  filament  that  once  had  been  some  sort  of 
heavy  woollen  cloth.  In  another,  a  cotton  garment  was  lying 
carelessly  upon  a  shelf,  as  though  but  a  moment  before  cast 
aside;  yet,  as  I  tried  to  pick  it  up,  it  crumbled  between  my  fin 
gers  into  a  fine  powder. 

Of  humanity,  the  only  sign  that  we  found  anywhere  about 
this  grim  and  desert  place  was  the  dried,  shrivelled  remnant 
of  a  woman  that  we  came  upon  in  an  upper  room  of  one  of  the 
larger  houses  farther  on.  She  was  lying  upon  a  bed  of  mats, 
partly  turned  upon  her  side,  and  one  arm  was  stretched  out 
towards  an  earthen  cup  that  stood  just  beyond  her  reach  upon 
the  floor.  And  what  added  to  the  ghastliness  of  it  all  was  that 
a  thin  ray  of  sunlight,  coming  through  a  crevice  in  the  wall, 
struck  upon  the  woman's  teeth — whence  the  lips  had  dried  away 
— and  by  its  gleaming  there  made  on  her  face  a  smile. 

As  we  came  close  to  the  lake,  we  perceived,  as  Rayburn  al 
ready  had  discerned  by  the  aid  of  the  glass,  that  houses,  par 
tially  submerged,  actually  rose  from  the  water,  and  that  houses 
of  which  only  the  roofs  were  visible  were  farther  on.  That  this 
whole  valley  was  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano  was  sufficiently 
evident;  and  we  could  only  surmise  that  in  later  times  some  fresh 
cataclysm  of  nature  had  poured  suddenly  into  it  a  vast  body 
of  water,  and  so  had  submerged  the  city  that  had  been  builded 
here.  Whatever  had  brought  about  the  catastrophe,  it  evi 
dently  had  come  with  a  most  appalling  suddenness.  Everywhere 
the  condition  of  the  houses  showed  how  hastily  they  had  been 
abandoned;  and  the  wild  hurry  of  flight  was  sKown  still  more 
clearly  in  the  case  of  the  woman — whose  surroundings  gave 
evidence  that  she  had  been  a  person  of  consequence — deserted 
in  her  age  or  infirmity  and  left  lonely  to  die. 

Young's  face  wore  a  melancholy  expression  as  we  stood 
upon  the  shore  of  the  lake,  and  looked  out  across  it  towards 
the  faintly  seen  western  shore.  "If  this  is  th'  place  we're  hunt- 
in'  for,"  he  said,  "I  guess  our  treasure  stock  is  pretty  badly 
watered,  unless  somebody's  had  th'  sense  t'  keep  th'  treasure 


82          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

dry  over  on  th'  other  side.  We'd  better  move  over  there, 
I  reckon,  an'  take  a  look  for  it,  especially  as  we've  got  t'  go 
that  way  anyhow  in  order  t'  get  out.  There  ought  t'  be  some 
sort  of  a  path  around  th'  lake,  between  th'  edge  of  th'  water 
and  th'  cliffs." 

But  when  we  came  to  examine  into  this  matter  we  found  that 
there  was  no  path  at  all.  On  each  side  of  the  valley  the  walls 
of  rock  rose  directly  from  the  water,  sharp  and  sheer. 

"Well,"  said  Rayburn,  when  we  had  finished  our  inspection, 
"we've  got  to  get  across  somehow.  I  guess  we'll  have  to  sail  in, 
the  first  thing  to-morrow  morning,  and  build  a  raft.  These 
pine-trees  down  here  by  the  water  will  cut  easy  and  float  well, 
and  there's  some  comfort  in  that,  anyway.  But  what  I'm  after 
right  now  is  my  supper.'* 

Pablo  already  had  started  a  fire.  Young  presently  had  some 
ham  fried  and  some  coffee  boiled.  We  had  counted  upon  hav 
ing  fresh  meat  for  supper  that  night,  for  there  was  everything  in 
the  look  of  the  valley  to  promise  that  we  would  find  game  there ; 
but,  so  far,  not  a  four-footed  thing  nor  a  bird  had  we  seen,  nor 
even  signs  of  fish  in  the  lake. 

In  the  morning  we  got  out  the  axes  and  went  to  work  at  the 
building  of  the  raft.  We  spent  two  days  and  a  half  over  it, 
and  I  never  in  my  life  was  more  thankful  for  anything  than  I 
was  when  at  last  that  wretched  raft  was  done.  As  Young 
observed,  as  he  regarded  our  finished  work  critically,  there 
was  no  style  about  it — for  it  was  only  a  lot  of  rough  logs,  of 
which  the  upper  and  lower  layers  ran  fore  and  aft  and  the  mid 
dle  layer  transversely,  the  whole  bound  together  by  our  pack- 
ropes — but  it  was  large  enough  for  our  purposes,  and  it  was 
solid  and  strong. 

In  the  late  afternoon  we  carried  our  belongings  on  board  of 
it,  and  Pablo  succeeded  by  dint  of  much  entreaty  in  inducing 
El  Sabio  to  board  it  also,  and  we  pushed  off  from  shore.  For 
driving  the  clumsy  thing  forward  we  had  made  four  rough  pad 
dles,  which  well  enough  served  our  purpose,  for  there  was  no 
current  whatever  in  the  lake  and  the  air  was  still. 

As  we  went  onward  we  discovered  how  considerable  the  city 
was  that  here  lay  submerged.  Through  the  perfectly  clear 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          83 

water  we  could  see  to  a  great  depth,  and  beneath  us  in  every 
direction  were  paved  streets,  lined  with  houses  well  built  of 
stone.  Near  the  centre  of  the  valley  the  size  of  the  houses 
greatly  increased,  and  the  fashion  of  their  building  was  more 
stately;  and  fronting  upon  a  great  open  square  in  the  very  centre 
of  the  city  was  a  building  of  such  extraordinary  size  that  we 
took  it  to  be  the  palace  of  a  king;  but  here  the  water  was  so 
deep  that  we  could  make  out  but  faintly  the  looming  far  below 
us  of  its  mighty  walls.  Never  have  I  been  more  pained  than  I 


AND  PABLO  SUCCEEDED  BY  DINT  OF  MUCH  ENTREATY  IN  INDUCING 
EL  SABIO  TO  BOARD  IT  ALSO 

then  was;  for  in  that  place  I  found  myself  close  to  making  dis 
coveries  of  surpassing  archaeological  value,  and  yet  I  was  as 
completely  cut  off  from  them  as  though  they  had  no  existence. 
Just  beyond  the  palace,  as  we  went  onward,  our  raft  almost 
touched  the  roof  of  a  noble  building  that  stood  upon  the  top 
of  a  vast  pyramidal  mound,  the  base  of  which  we  could  see  but 
dimly  far  down  through  the  waters  of  the  lake.  This,  evidently, 
had  been  the  chief  temple  of  the  city;  and  as  we  passed  over  it 
and  came  to  its  eastern  side,  we  had  ghastly  and  certain  proof 


84          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

of  the  terrible  suddenness  with  which  the  city  had  been  over 
whelmed.  On  the  broad  terrace  before  the  temple  was  the 
sacrificial  stone,  and  upon  this  dark  mass  we  saw  distinctly  the 
gleaming  of  human  bones;  and  as  we  peered  down  into  the 
water  we  perceived  that  all  the  terrace  was  strewn  thickly 
with  human  bones  also,  showing  that  when  the  rush  of  water 
came  many  thousands  of  human  beings  had  here  perished  mis 
erably. 

I  pictured  to  myself  the  dreadful  scene  that  once  had  passed, 
down  there  below  us,  where  now  was  only  the  calm  serenity 
of  ancient  death:  the  great  crowd  collected  to  witness  the  sac 
rifice,  and  then  the  sudden  coming  of  the  waters — possibly 
so  quickly  that  the  victim,  held  down  by  the  neck-yoke  upon  the 
sacrificial  stone,  was  drowned  ere  there  was  time  to  slay  him. 
This  great  mound  would  be  the  last  of  all  to  be  covered,  and 
the  wretched  people  gathered  there  must  have  seen  their  city  dis 
appear  beneath  the  waters  before  death  came  to  them.  And 
when  the  water  did  reach  them,  what  a  writhing  and  struggling 
there  must  have  been  for  a  little  while.  And  then,  at  last,  the 
water  rose  triumphant  in  its  swelling  majesty  over  all — and 
beneath  its  placid  surface  were  hid  the  silenced  terrors  of  all  that 
commotion  of  mortal  agony,  whereof  the  outcome  was  the 
peaceful  and  eternal  calm  of  death. 


Chapter  XII 

AS  THE  raft  approached  the  western  shore  of  the  lake  we 
JL\.  perceived  beneath  us  no  longer  houses,  but  large  walled  en 
closures  which  plainly  had  been  gardens  of  pleasure.  Between 
the  city  and  what  once  had  been  its  charming  suburb  extended  a 
broad  paved  way,  like  that  which  we  had  found  upon  the  eastern 
shore;  and  this  paved  way  was  continued  on  the  dry  ground 
above  the  present  level  of  the  lake  towards  the  cliffs  westward. 
On  the  high  western  shore  were  a  few  houses,  large  and  hand 
some,  and  having  walled  gardens  around  them,  which  evidently 
had  belonged  to  persons  of  great  wealth  and  consequence. 

In  these  we  found  shadowy  remnants  of  a  past  magnificence. 
On  many  of  the  walls  were  hangings,  once  rich  and  heavy,  that 
now  were  mere  films  of  ghostly  stuff  held  together  by  the  many 
gold  threads  which  had  been  woven  into  their  fabric.  Pot 
tery,  wrought  into  beautiful  shapes,  yet  ornamented  with  de 
signs  that  told  of  a  but  half-redeemed  barbarism,  was  scattered 
about  everywhere,  and  scarcely  a  piece  was  broken.  Some  very 
handsome  weapons  we  found  also — swords  and  spears  and 
knives — of  the  same  curious  metal  as  the  sword  which  Pablo 
so  opportunely  had  laid  hands  upon  in  the  canon,  but  far  more 
finely  finished  and  more  delicate  in  design.  And  of  this  same 
metal  was  made  a  great  throne,  as  it  seemed  to  us  to  be,  that 
was  in  the  largest  room  of  the  finest  of  all  the  houses;  a  house 
that  we  believed  was  once  the  pleasure  palace  of  the  king.  The 
audience-chamber  in  which  this  throne  stood  was  of  finely 
wrought  stone-work,  whereof  the  whole  surface  was  covered 
with  low-reliefs  of  men  and  animals — scenes  of  battle,  of  coun 
cil,  and  of  the  chase — surrounded  by  curious  tracery  of  such  or 
derly  design  that  Fray  Antonio  agreed  with  me  in  the  belief 
that  it  was  some  sort  of  hieroglyphic  writing. 

But  in  none  of  these  houses,  much  to  the  disappointment  of 
Rayburn  and  Young,  did  we  find  any  scrap  of  the  treasure  for 
which  they  so  earnestly  longed.  And,  truly,  if  treasure  re- 

85 


86          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

mained  in  this  wrecked  city,  it  was  less  likely  to  be  in  these  out 
lying  country  houses  than  in  some  strong  building  in  the  city's 
heart;  and  so  beyond  their  reach  in  the  depths  of  the  lake.  If 
this  were  indeed  the  walled  city  for  which  we  were  searching 
— as  well  it  might  be,  for  never  was  a  city  surrounded  by 
grander  walls  than  the  mighty  cliffs  wherewith  the  valley  was 
encompassed — our  search  was  like  to  be  a  vain  one  so  far  as 
treasure  was  concerned. 

The  paved  way  still  led  westward,  and  we  followed  it — for 
to  the  westward  must  be  the  valley's  outlet.  As  it  rose  to  a 
higher  level  the  way  widened;  and  on  each  side  of  it  was  a 
stone  statue  of  the  god  Chac-Mool.  As  we  came  to  these 
statues  Young  proceeded,  in  a  most  business-like  way,  and  with 
no  apparent  appreciation  of  the  queer  figure  that  he  cut,  to  sit 
down  in  turn  on  each  of  their  heads.  And  he  was  mightily  dis 
appointed  when  he  found  that  neither  of  them  stirred.  "They're 
not  th'  tippin'  kind,"  he  said,  ruefully,  as  he  got  down  from 
the  head  of  the  second  one  and  looked  at  it  with  an  expression 
of  reproach. 

But  his  countenance  brightened,  when  we  had  gone  on  a  little 
farther,  as  he  caught  sight  of  another  and  much  larger  statue 
of  the  god  that  was  set  in  a  great  niche  cut  in  the  cliff  at  the 
end  of  the  paved  way.  To  prepare  here  the  god's  abiding- 
place  very  arduous  labor  had  been  undertaken.  For  a  space 
fully  one  hundred  feet  high  and  as  many  broad  the  whole  face 
of  the  cliff  had  been  quarried  into;  making  a  deep  recess  that 
was  rounded  above,  and  that  from  beneath  was  approached 
by  a  long  flight  of  steps  cut  from  the  solid  rock.  In  the  centre  of 
the  recess,  upon  the  terraced  space  above  the  stairs,  was  a 
huge  squared  mass  of  stone,  on  which  the  great  stone  figure  of 
Chac-Mool  rested.  The  opening  faced  directly  eastward,  and 
as  we  approached  it  the  stone  figure  was  seen  but  indistinctly 
in  the  duskiness  of  the  recess,  over  which,  and  far  beyond  which 
into  the  valley,  fell  the  shadow  of  the  mighty  cliff.  From  in 
front  of  this  great  altar  all  the  valley  was  open  to  us;  and 
hence,  before  the  lake  swallowed  it,  every  part  of  the  city 
must  have  been  clearly  visible  in  ancient  times.  As  we  mounted 
the  steps  and  approached  the  idol  I  observed  that  Pablo  hung 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          87 

back  a  little;  as  though  in  the  depths  of  his  nature  some  chord 
had  been  touched,  some  ancient  instinct  in  his  blood  aroused, 
that  filled  his  soul  with  awe. 

Certainly  there  was  no  suggestion  of  awe  in  Young's  de 
meanor  towards  the  statue.  With  a  monkey-like  quickness, 
that  I  would  not  have  given  his  stout  legs  and  heavy  body  credit 
for,  he  climbed  upon  the  altar  and  plumped  himself  down  on 
the  head  of  the  figure  almost  in  a  moment.  But  again  he  was 
disappointed,  for  the  idol  did  not  stir.  As  we  examined  it  closely 
we  perceived  that  its  fixedness  was  not  unreasonable;  for  the 
figure,  and  the  altar  on  which  it  rested,  were  one  solid  mass  of 
rock  that  itself  was  a  part  of  the  cliff — left  standing  here  when 
the  niche  around  it  was  hollowed  out.  A  very  prodigious  piece 
of  stone-cutting  all  this  was,  and  as  I  contemplated  it  I  was 
filled  with  admiration  of  the  skill  of  them  who  had  achieved  it. 

Behind  the  altar  the  niche  was  cut  into  the  cliff  so  far  that  the 
depths  of  it  in  the  waning  daylight  were  dusky  with  heavy 
shadows;  indeed,  so  dense  were  these  that  Young  came  near 
to  breaking  his  bones  by  falling  into  a  little  hole  in  the  floor, 
that  was  the  less  easily  seen  because  it  was  hidden  behind  a 
jutting  mass  of  rock.  But  he  caught  the  rock  in  time  to  save 
himself  from  falling,  and  eagerly  struck  a  wax-match  that  he 
might  see  if  here  were  a  passage-way  for  us.  Descending  into 
the  rock  was  a  stair-way,  the  steps  whereof  were  smoothed  as 
though  many  feet  had  trodden  them;  and  down  these  steps  he 
promptly  went,  holding  the  lighted  match  before  him — and 
having  with  him  the  full  box  of  matches  should  further  light 
be  required.  A  minute  later  we  heard  his  voice  calling  to  us, 
but  where  it  came  from  we  could  not  tell — for  he  had  descended 
into  the  rock  below  us,  and  the  sound  that  we  heard  seemed 
to  come  from  the  air  above.  While  we  listened  we  saw  the 
gleam  of  the  light  in  the  darkness  below,  and  then  he  came 
up  the  stair  laughing. 

"Well,  that's  just  th'  boss  trick,"  he  said.  "I  guess  th'  old 
priests  who  used  t'  run  this  place  would  be  everlastin'ly  down 
on  me  if  they  knew  that  I'd  tumbled  to  it.  There's  a  hole  right 
up  into  th'  idol  an'  room  inside  of  him  for  half  a  dozen  men, 
an'  there's  a  crack  in  his  head  that  you  can  see  out  through 


88  THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

while  you're  lettin'  off  prophecies  an'  that  sort  o'  thing.  Why, 
if  you  had  a  crowd  t'  work  with  who  really  believed  in  Jack 
Mullins,  you  could  set  'em  up  for  almost  anything  with  a  rig 
like  thatl" 

But  this  curious  discovery,  in  which  Fray  Antonio  and  I  were 
deeply  interested,  did  not  forward  our  immediate  purpose,  which 
was  to  find  a  way  out  of  the  valley.  We  still  cherished  a  faint 
hope,  indeed,  that  we  might  find  the  King's  symbol  with  the 
arrow  pointing  the  way  onward,  and  so  be  assured  that  the  city 
buried  in  the  depths  of  the  lake  was  not  the  city  of  which  we 
were  in  search.  That  we  might  accomplish  our  deliverance 
from  this  shut-in  place,  we  examined  closely  the  whole  circuit 
of  the  cliffs  at  the  western  end.  Yet  nowhere  was  there,  even 
by  bold  climbing,  a  place  where  the  cliff  might  be  scaled,  still 
less  an  open  path.  And  so  we  came  at  last  to  our  first  point 
of  departure,  and  rested  before  the  statue  of  Chac-Mool,  dis 
consolate. 

One  discovery  we  had  made  in  the  course  of  our  explorations 
which  enabled  us  to  understand  how  the  fate  that  had  overtaken 
the  drowned  city  had  fallen  upon  it.  Close  by  the  northern  bor 
der  of  the  valley  we  saw,  high  up  above  us,  a  vast  rift  more  than 
a  thousand  feet  wide  in  the  face  of  the  cliff;  and  below  this  the 
ground  was  torn  into  a  deep  wild  channel,  and  everywhere  huge 
fragments  of  rock  were  scattered  over  the  ground.  Here  it  was, 
then,  that  the  water  had  poured  in — bursting  forth  from  a  lake 
above — by  which  the  city  at  one  stroke  had  been  overwhelmed. 

"Why,"  said  Young,  "th'  Mill  River  disaster  wasn't  anything 
to  it,  an'  that  was  pretty  bad.  I  was  runnin'  th'  way-freight  on 
th'  Old  Colony  road  when  that  happened,  an'  I  took  a  day  off  an* 
went  up  an'  had  a  look  at  it.  But  this  just  lays  that  little  horror 
out  cold.  It's  as  big  as  lettin'  loose  on  Boston  the  whole  of 
Massachusetts  Bay." 

In  addition  to  the  sombre  thoughts  which  were  forced  upon 
us,  bred  of  sorrow  for  the  thousands  who  had  here  untimely 
perished,  the  gloomy  dread  of  a  more  practical  sort  assailed  us 
that  we  also  in  a  little  while  would  join  the  silent  company  of 
the  thousands  who  had  died  here  in  a  long  past  time. 

With  the  loss  of  our  mules  and  horses  we  had  been  compelled 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          89 

to  leave  behind  us  the  greater  portion  of  our  store  of  pro 
visions,  and  made  our  lading  mainly  of  ammunition  and  arms. 
But  in  this  valley,  so  smiling  and  so  beautiful,  there  was  no 
live  thing  except  ourselves.  Not  a  beast,  not  a  bird  had  we 
seen  since  we  entered  it;  and  in  the  lake,  as  we  found  presently, 
there  were  no  fish.  This  was,  in  truth,  as  we  came  thus  to  call 
it,  the  Valley  of  Death. 

While  we  worked  at  building  the  raft  we  had  not  thought  to 
be  sparing  in  our  eating — for  building  that  raft  was  hungry 
work — and  now  that  consideration  of  the  matter  was  forced 
upon  us,  we  found  that  we  had  with  us  food  barely  sufficient 
for  three  days.  We  could,  of  course,  eat  El  Sabio — though 
such  was  our  feeling  towards  that  excellent  animal  that  eating 
him  would  be  almost  like  eating  one  of  ourselves;  and  Pablo, 
we  knew,  would  regard  eating  this  dear  friend  of  his  as  neither 
more  nor  less  than  sheer  cannibalism.  And  even  if  we  did  eat 
El  Sabio,  the  meat  of  his  little  body  would  but  prolong  our  lives 
for  a  week,  or  possibly  for  two  weeks  more.  And  what  then? 

Night  was  falling  as  we  ended  our  search  along  the  cliffs  for 
a  way  of  escape,  and  found  none,  and  so  came  again  in  front  of 
the  great  idol — where  our  packs  had  been  left  heaped  up,  and 
where  the  Wise  One,  happily  unmindful  of  the  fate  tHat  might 
soon  be  in  store  for  him,  was  energetically  cropping  the  rich 
grass.  We  built  a  fire,  for  the  air  in  that  deep  valley,  mingling 
with  the  mists  rising  from  the  lake,  was  damp  and  chill;  and 
beside  the  fire  we  made  our  evening  meal.  There  was  no 
good  in  talking  about  what  was  so  apparent  to  all  of  us;  but 
Young,  who  was  our  cook,  showed  his  appreciation  of  the  sit 
uation  practically  by  serving  only  half  rations  and  by  making 
our  coffee  very  thin  and  poor. 

Silently  we  ate  our  short  allowance  of  food;  and  thereafter 
until  we  lay  down  to  sleep,  we  smoked  our  pipes  with  but  little 
talk  for  seasoning,  and  that  little  of  a  melancholy  sort. 


Chapter  XIII 

WE  AWOKE  the  next  morning  at  the  very  moment  that 
the  sun  rose  above  the  mountain  peaks  to  the  eastward; 
and  our  waking  was  due  in  part  to  the  sunshine  striking  upon 
our  faces,  but  more  to  the  prodigious  braying,  that  echoed  thun 
derously  from  the  cliffs  around  us,  with  which  El  Sabio  wel 
comed  the  advent  of  the  god  of  day. 

"It  is  a  good  sign,  senor,"  said  Pablo,  "when  El  Sabio  brays 
thus  nobly  at  sunrise.  He  does  not  do  it  often,  but  when  he 
does  I  know  beyond  a  doubt  that  I  am  to  have  a  lucky  day." 

"An'  I  must  say,"  Young  struck  in,  "that  for  a  man  who 
expects  t'  have  t'  eat  his  boots  in  th'  course  of  a  day  or  two 
I'm  feelin'  this  mornin'  most  uncommonly  chipper  myself.  For 
one  thing,  I  mean  t'  have  another  look  around  that  idol.  I'm  not 
at  all  sure  that  he's  not  th'  tippin'-up  kind.  Maybe  we  didn't 
put  enough  weight  on  him  yesterday;  or  he  may  do  his  tippin' 
up  from  th'  other  end.  Anyhow,  I'm  goin'  t'  have  another 
whack  at  him  as  soon  as  I've  eat  my  breakfast;  an'  that's  a 
performance  that  won't  take  long  t'  get  through  with,  consid- 
erin'  how  thunderin'  little  there  is  t'  eat." 

Truly,  the  eating  of  our  breakfast  did  not  consume  much 
time;  and,  so  short  did  Young  make  our  rations,  I  am  not  sure 
that  we  were  not  hungrier  at  the  end  of  it  than  we  were  at  its 
beginning.  When  we  finished,  the  sun  was  still  low  in  the  east; 
and  the  bright  rays  struck  full  upon  the  statue  of  Chac-Mool, 
on  the  great  stone  altar,  and  into  the  depths  of  the  niche  that 
had  been  hollowed  behind  it  in  the  face  of  the  cliff. 

With  the  strong  sunlight  deeply  penetrating  it,  the  recess 
behind  the  altar  no  longer  was  filled  with  the  black  shadows 
that  had  obscured  it  on  the  previous  afternoon;  and  even  the 
hole  into  which  Young  so  nearly  had  fallen  was  plainly  visible. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  better  light,  the  lost-freight  agent 
made  a  more  careful  examination  of  the  deeper  portion  of  the 
recess,  and  presently  he  gave  a  shout  that  told  of  a  discovery. 

90 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          91 

As  we  gathered  around  him  he  pointed  in  great  excitement 
to  a  row  of  metal  pegs,  which  were  fixed  in  the  rock  one  above 
the  other,  diagonally;  and  then  to  the  point  in  the  roof  of  the 
recess  towards  which  these  pegs  tended.  Even  with  the  strong 
light  that  now  aided  us  it  was  some  time  before  I  could  make 
out  among  the  black  shadows  of  the  roof  a  small  opening;  but 
the  longer  that  I  looked  at  it  the  more  distinct  it  grew. 

"We've  struck  th'  trail  once  more,"  Young  cried.  "We've 
struck  it  sure.  It  don't  look  promisin',  but  here  it  is — for  if 
this  ain't  th'  King's  symbol  carved  right  by  th'  first  of  these 
pegs,  then  you're  all  at  liberty  t'  kick  me  right  smack  over  th' 
top  of  that  idol  for  a  d n  fool!  Hurrah!" 

Pablo  could  not  understand  what  Young  was  saying,  but  it 
was  easy  to  perceive  from  his  gestures  the  nature  of  the  happy 
discovery  that  he  had  made.  In  a  tone  in  which  deference  and 
triumph  were  curiously  blended,  Pablo  said  to  me:  "Did  I  not 
tell  you,  senor,  that  a  good  thing  always  happens  when  El 
Sabio  brays  at  the  rising  sun?" 

Before  Pablo  had  ended  this  short  but  exultant  deliverance, 
Young  was  half-way  up  to  the  roof  of  the  cave,  treading  gin 
gerly  upon  the  metal  bolts  and  testing  each  one  before  he  trusted 
his  weight  to  it.  In  a  couple  of  minutes  he  reached  the  roof 
and  disappeared  through  the  hole ;  and  almost  instantly  he  called 
down  to  us:  "We're  solid — here's  a  regular  staircase.  Come 
along!" 

We  followed  him  promptly  enough ;  while  our  hearts  thrilled, 
and  all  our  bodies  trembled,  with  the  gladness  that  possessed 
us  as  we  found  this  way  opening  to  us  from  the  valley  wherein 
we  had  thought  that  surely  we  must  die.  In  a  little  chamber, 
cut  in  the  rock  above  the  opening  into  which  the  ladder  of  bolts 
led  us,  Young  was  waiting  for  us;  and  from  this  chamber  a 
spiral  stair-way  ascended  that  was  dimly  lighted  by  crevices  cut 
from  it  out  to  the  face  of  the  cliff.  With  Young  leading  us, 
up  this  we  went;  at  first  rapidly,  but,  later,  slowly  and  wearily, 
for  it  seemed  as  though  the  stair  would  never  end.  Yet  though 
our  bodies  were  heavy  our  spirits  were  very  light;  for  we  knew 
by  the  wearisome  length  of  it  that  the  stair  must  lead  to  the 
very  top  of  the  towering  cliffs  by  which  we  had  believed  our- 


92          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

selves  to  be  irrevocably  shut  in.  And  at  last  there  was  a 
gleaming  of  light  above  us;  and  this  grew  stronger  and  stronger 
until  we  came  out  with  a  shout  of  joy  into  the  glad  sunlight — and 
saw  far  below  us  the  valley  that  we  once  more  thought  beauti 
ful,  now  that  it  no  longer  held  us  fast. 

In  the  depth  below  us  we  could  discern  El  Sabio,  looking  no 
bigger  than  a  rabbit;  and  he  must  have  caught  the  sound  of  our 
shouting  with  those  long  ears  of  his,  for  there  came  up  to  us 
faintly  from  him  an  answering  bray. 

"It's  pretty  hard  lines  on  that  jackass,"  said  Young,  "leaving 
him  behind  down  there.  But  he  might  be  left  in  a  worse  place, 
after  all." 

I  could  perceive  that  Pablo  was  stirred  by  uneasy  thoughts 
of  the  separation  that  now  so  clearly  must  take  place  between 
him  and  his  dear  friend;  and  he  looked  wistfully  along  the  path 
across  the  mountain  to  the  westward — cut  and  smoothed  so 
that  it  was  an  easy  path  to  go  on — and  evidently  thought  how 
simple  a  matter  it  would  be  for  El  Sabio  to  travel  on  with  us 
if  only  once  he  were  up  the  stair.  But  he  did  not  speak,  and 
I  hoped  that  he  was  nerving  himself  to  bear  manfully  this  sore 
trial.  For  the  rest  of  us,  we  had  but  one  thought:  to  get  our 
packs  up  the  stair-way  as  quickly  as  possible — and  at  its  quickest 
this  work  would  be  slowly  and  painfully  done — and  then  once 
more  go  forward.  Just  as  we  turned  to  descend  again  an 
eagle  came  sailing  slowly  towards  us — evidently  without  fear 
of  us — and  Rayburn  was  so  fortunate  as  to  bring  him  down  with 
a  pistol-shot.  We  tossed  him  over  the  edge  of  the  cliff;  and  a 
famous  breakfast  we  made  on  him  when  we  returned  into  the 
valley  again.  I  can't  say  that  I  would  have  much  stomach  for 
so  dirty  a  bird  now,  but  I  certainly  did  think  that  eagle  most 
delicious  eating  then. 

The  hearty  meal  that  we  made  on  him  strengthened  us  might 
ily,  and  we  went  to  work  with  a  will  at  getting  our  traps  up  the 
stair.  With  our  pack-ropes  we  hauled  the  various  articles  first 
into  the  little  room  at  the  stair-foot,  and  then  toilsomely  car 
ried  them  to  the  heights  above. 

It  was  as  this  heavy  work  went  slowly  forward  that  Pablo 
said  to  me,  speaking  in  an  insinuating  and  deprecating  tone: 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          93 

"Up  a  stair  such  as  this  is,  senor,  the  Wise  One  would  bound 
like  a  deer." 

I  did  not  call  in  question  Pablo's  simile,  for  I  knew  that  the 
boy's  heart  must  be  very  sad.  Laying  my  hand  kindly  upon 
his  shoulder,  I  answered  in  a  way  to  show  that  I  was  truly 
sorry  for  him:  "The  Wise  One  will  lead  a  happy  life,  Pablo,  in 
this  beautiful  valley — where  nothing  can  do  him  harm,  and 
where  he  will  have  an  abundance  of  water  and  of  rich  fresh 
grass.  Up  the  stair  no  doubt  he  could  climb,  for  he  knows  won 
derfully  well  how  to  use  those  dainty  little  feet  of  his;  but  even 
the  Wise  One  could  not  climb  up  the  ladder  of  metal  bolts. 
Therefore  must  thou  strengthen  thy  heart  against  the  bitterness 
of  this  parting  from  him;  for  even  if  thou  wouldst  stay  behind 
with  him  it  is  not  possible — for  thou  canst  not  live,  like  the  Wise 
One,  on  water  and  grass." 

"But  he  is  so  little  and  so  light  an  ass,  senor,"  Pablo  urged, 
"that  surely,  all  of  us  pulling  together,  we  could  pull  him  up 
by  the  ropes,  even  as  the  other  things  have  been  pulled  up; 
surely,  surely,  senor,  that  would  be  an  easy  thing  for  four  men 
to  do — and  I  also  can  pull  at  the  ropes,  senor,  almost  as  well 
as  any  man." 

It  did  not  seem  to  me  that  even  all  of  us  pulling  together 
could  sway  El  Sabio  up  a  hundred  feet  through  the  air;  but 
Pablo  was  so  pitiful  in  his  entreaties,  and  seemed  so  resolutely 
bent  upon  remaining  behind  in  the  valley  and  dying  there  with 
his  dear  friend  rather  than  go  on  without  him,  that  I  opened 
the  matter  to  Rayburn  and  joined  my  plea  to  Pablo's  that  this 
curious  effort  should  be  made.  And  in  addition  to  the  sentimen 
tal  reason  for  taking  the  ass  with  us,  I  pointed  out  to  Rayburn 
— as,  indeed,  he  understood  without  my  telling  him — how  prac 
tically  valuable  El  Sabio  was  to  us  in  helping  us  to  bear  our  heavy 
loads.  Rayburn  thought  with  me  that  the  dead  lift  of  so  con 
siderable  a  weight  to  such  a  height,  without  tackle  of  any  sort  to 
help  us,  was  impossible.  But  Young,  who  had  an  inventive  strain 
in  his  composition,  was  of  the  opinion  that  he  could  set  up  such 
rough  tackle  as  would  answer  our  purpose ;  upon  understanding 
which,  Pablo  at  once  embraced  El  Sabio  and  danced  for  joy. 

With  Pablo — who  also  could  use  his  hands  well — most  will- 


94          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

ingly  helping,  Young  contrived  in  a  surprisingly  short  time  to 
make  a  rough  windlass,  that  was  effective  enough  for  the  work 
to  be  done  with  it,  and  to  pull  it  up  bit  by  bit  into  the  chamber 
in  the  rock  and  there  fit  it  together  over  the  hole.  El  Sabio, 
being  brought  into  the  recess  behind  the  idol,  regarded  us  all 
with  a  doubting  expression  that  even  Pablo's  repeated  assur 
ances  that  we  meant  well  by  him  could  not  change  into  a  look 
of  trustfulness.  Around  his  small  body,  with  stays  running  for 
ward  around  his  neck  and  aft  to  his  tail,  we  rigged  looped  ropes 
— which  ropes  were  gathered  together  above  his  back  and  there 
made  fast  to  the  line  that  was  pendent  from  the  windlass  above. 
From  time  to  time,  as  this  operation  was  going  forward,  El  Sabio 
turned  his  head  upon  one  shoulder  or  the  other  and  gazed  with 
a  wistful  expression  at  what. we  were  doing  to  him;  and  the  slow 
shake  that  he  gave  his  head,  whereby  his  great  ears  were  set  to 
wagging  mournfully,  as  he  finished  each  of  these  inspections, 
betrayed  the  grave  wonder  that  was  within  him  as  to  what  it  all 
could  mean,  together  with  a  not  unnatural  apprehension  of  what 
might  be  its  ultimate  outcome. 

By  a  good  chance,  the  effect  upon  the  Wise  One  of  finding  the 
solid  earth  drop  suddenly  from  beneath  his  feet — when  at  last  all 
was  in  readiness,  and  Young  and  Rayburn  began  to  hoist  away  at 
the  windlass — was  to  render  him  quite  rigid  with  terror;  and 
there  was  a  most  agonized  look  upon  his  face  as  he  went  sailing 
up  through  the  air.  Pablo,  standing  below  with  me,  that  we 
might  steady  the  ass  with  a  guy-rope  during  his  ascent,  ad 
dressed  to  him  all  manner  of  tender  and  comforting  words ;  but 
for  once  the  Wise  One  seemed  to  be  insensible  to  his  master's 
voice.  Neither  with  his  eyes  nor  his  ears  did  he  respond;  and 
he  well  enough  might  have  been  taken  for  a  dead  ass  going 
heavenward,  but  for  the  sharp  twitchings  of  his  tail.  And 
when  at  last  he  was  safely  within  the  upper  chamber,  he  fairly 
fell  down  upon  the  rocky  floor  of  it  in  sheer  exhaustion  begot 
of  fright.  It  was  not  until  we  had  passed  up  a  bucket  of  water 
to  him,  whereof  he  drank  the  very  last  drop,  and  had  been 
soothed  by  Pablo's  fondling  of  him  and  by  Pablo's  gentle  words, 
that  his  broken  spirit  revived.  And  so  limp  and  weak  was  he 
that  it  was  a  long  while  before  we  could  in  conscience  urge 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          95 

him  to  ascend  the  stair.  When  at  last  he  set  himself  to  this 
undertaking,  he  was  far  from  accomplishing  it  in  the  bounding 
and  deer-like  manner  that  Pablo  had  promrsed  for  him;  but 
he  certainly  did  at  last  get  to  the  top — which  was  all  that  was 
required  of  him — and  there  drank  gratefully  the  bucketful  of 
water  that  Pablo  had  carried  up  that  great  height  for  his  com 
forting  when  his  toilsome  climbing  should  end.  And  Pablo 
went  down  into  the  valley  once  more  that  night  in  order  to 
bring  back  to  his  friend  a  hearty  supper  of  rich  grass. 

By  the  time  that  all  this  hard  work  was  accomplished  the 
day  was  nearly  at  an  end;  and  even  had  there  been  light  for 
us  to  see  our  way  by  we  were  too  tired  to  go  on — for  every 
bone  and  muscle  in  our  bodies  was  weary  and  sore.  There 
fore  we  made  our  camp  for  the  night  on  the  flat  expanse  of 
rock  where  the  stair  ended;  and  we  were  thankful  that  enough 
of  the  eagle  remained  to  us  for  our  supper — and,  indeed,  we 
made  our  breakfast  on  him  also,  for  he  was  a  prodigiously 
large  bird.  Very  different  were  our  feelings  as  we  wrapped 
ourselves  in  our  blankets  and  settled  ourselves  to  sleep  on  that 
open  mountain-top — with  the  path  clear  btfore  us,  and  with  the 
cheering  hope  in  our  hearts  that  among  the  mountains  we  should 
find  a  plenty  of  wild  creatures  suitable  for  food — from  the  dull 
despairing  languor  that  had  possessed  us  as  we  sank  to  sleep 
the  night  before.  And  with  our  joy  was  also  a  reverent  thank 
fulness — that  was  more  strongly  stimulated  by  certain  words 
which  Fray  Antonio  spoke  ere  we  lay  down  to  rest — that  our 
deliverance  was  accomplished  from  that  death-stricken  valley 
wherein  we  ourselves  so  surely  had  expected  that  we  must  die. 


Chapter  XIV 

Y  THE  winding  way  which  we  followed  along  the  mountain- 
top  (and  that  this  was  the  way  we  wished  to  follow  the 
King's  symbol  and  the  pointing  arrow  plainly  showed),  we 
came  presently  close  beside  the  rift  in  the  cliffs  through  which 
the  waters  of  the  upper  lake  had  been  discharged  upon  the 
city  in  the  valley  below  and  so  had  buried  it.  And  here  we 
made  a  very  surprising  discovery — which  was  no  less  than  that 
the  great  rift  in  the  rocks  through  which  the  water  had  been  let 
loose  was  not,  as  we  had  supposed,  the  result  of  some  fierce 
convulsion  of  nature,  but  very  plainly  was  the  fiercer  work  of 
man.  Along  the  face  of  the  opening  whence  the  water  had 
poured  forth  the  rock  was  grooved,  showing  that  3rill-holes  had 
been  made,  close  together,  from  the  edge  of  the  cliff  back 
ward  to  the  lake  that  once  had  filled  all  the  valley  now  lying 
bare  and  empty  before  us;  and  with  the  field-glass  we  could 
see  that  there  was  a  like  channelling  of  the  rock  upon  the  farther 
side  of  the  break.  And  all  doubt  in  our  minds  in  regard  to  this 
matter  was  removed  by  our  finding  a  vastly  long  drill — made  of 
the  bright,  hard  metal  that  we  now  were  familiar  with,  yet 
could  not  at  all  understand  its  composition — lying  close  beside 
the  chasm  upon  the  bare  rock. 

"There  has  been  the  devil's  own  work  here!"  said  Rayburn, 
as  he  fully  took  in  this  extraordinary  situation.  "Whoever  did 
this  must  have  spent  months  over  it,  perhaps  years,  working 
with  such  tools  as  these.  They  evidently  went  at  it  system 
atically,  with  the  deliberate  intention  of  drowning  the  whole 
crowd  down  below.  From  an  engineering  stand-point  I  must 
say  that  it's  a  good  piece  of  work.  But  what  a  lot  of  incarnate 
devils  they  must  have  been  to  go  at  such  a  job !" 

Truly,  there  was  something  chilling  to  the  blood  in  the 
thought  of  the  slow  labor  of  them  who  had  toiled  here,  day 
after  day  and  month  after  month,  until  their  ghastly  purpose 
was  accomplished,  and  they  had  slam  a  whole  city  without 

96 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          97 

striking  a  single  honest  blow.  Such  vengeance  upon  an  enemy 
as  here  was  taken  never  had  its  equal  for  cold,  malignant  cruelty 
since  the  world  began.  Down  in  the  valley  below  we  had  seen 
gleaming  beneath  the  calm  surface  of  the  lake  the  bones  of  the 
thousands  who  had  perished  when  this  diabolical  work  was  com 
pleted,  and  the  waters  bounded  forth,  shining  and  sparkling  in 
the  sunlight,  on  their  mission  of  death.  And  whoever  let  them 
loose  must  have  stood  just  where  we  now  were  standing;  and 
at  sight  of  what  came  of  their  long  labor  there  must  have  been 
such  joy  as  no  hell  could  adequately  punish  in  their  black  hearts. 

Our  bodies  shuddered  as  we  turned  and  left  the  scene  of  this 
tremendous  tragedy;  that  was  the  more  appalling  to  us  because 
of  the  profound  mystery  in  which  was  buried  everything  related 
to  it  save  the  fact  that  it  had  been. 

The  path  that  we  followed  showed  the  same  care  in  the  mak 
ing  of  it  that  we  had  found  in  the  path  leading  down  from  the 
canon  into  the  valley  where  the  drowned  city  was.  Throughout 
the  length  of  it,  by  carrying  it  skilfully  along  the  windings  of  the 
mountain-sides,  an  equable,  easy  grade  was  maintained.  Ray- 
burn  was  lost  in  admiration  of  the  engineering  skill  that  was 
shown  in  its  construction. 

The  valley  on  our  right,  in  which  the  lake  had  been,  narrowed 
as  we  advanced;  and  as  the  path  that  we  followed  had  a  steadily 
rising  grade,  the  bottom  of  it  fell  away  rapidly.  As  we  reached 
what  had  been,  as  we  found,  the  foot  of  the  lake,  we  discovered 
fresh  evidence  of  the  enormous  amount  of  labor  that  had  been 
expended  in  order  to  make  its  waters  an  effective  engine  of 
destruction.  Far  in  the  depths  beneath  us,  extending  across 
the  whole  width  of  the  valley — but  here  the  valley  had  so  nar 
rowed  that  it  was  less  a  valley  than  a  canon — we  saw  a  high  and 
vastly  broad  stone  wall.  It  was  then  that  we  perceived  fully 
the  whole  of  the  devilish  design,  and  realized  the  years  that 
must  have  been  given  to  its  execution.  By  the  building  of  the 
wall  the  level  of  the  lake  had  been  raised  fully  three  hundred 
feet,  and  so  a  head  of  water  had  been  obtained  strong  enough 
to  thrust  out  the  mass  of  rock  that  had  been  loosened  by  drilling 
through  its  centre  and  at  its  sides.  It  seemed  impossible,  but 
for  the  proof  that  we  here  had  of  it,  that  human  hearts  could 


98          THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

have  in  them  enough  of  purely  devilish  cruelty  to  spend  years 
in  thus  working  out  to  perfection  so  hideous  a  vengeance. 

We  were  glad  to  turn  from  sight  of  this  place  and  press  on 
ward  into  the  canon,  for  such  the  valley  now  had  become;  and 
we  found  in  the  dark  shadows  which  enveloped  us  in  this  deep 
cleft  between  the  mountains  a  sombreness  in  keeping  with  the 
feelings  in  our  hearts.  So  high  above  us  towered  the  cliffs  that 
at  their  top  they  seemed  almost  to  meet,  showing  between  them 
only  a  narrow  ribbon  of  bright  blue  sky,  and  below  us  the  chasm 
went  down  sheer  for  a  thousand  feet;  a  gloomy  depth  that  our 
eyes  could  not  have  penetrated  had  there  not  gleamed  at  the 
bottom  of  it  the  foam  and  sparkle  of  a  little  stream.  Here  the 
path  was  hewn  almost  continuously  out  of  the  solid  rock;  and 
we  could  see  that  a  like  path  was  cut  in  the  rock  on  the  other 
side.  That  so  prodigious  a  piece  of  work  should  be  thus  du 
plicated  seemed  to  us  a  very  astonishing  waste  of  energy. 

But  the  matter  was  explained,  presently,  by  our  finding  that 
this  other  path  was  but  a  doubling  of  the  path  that  we  were 
on.  As  we  rounded  a  turn  in  the  canon  we  came  suddenly  to 
a  broad  natural  ledge  in  the  rock,  over  which  hung  a  great 
projection  of  the  cliff  so  that  the  sky  above  was  hid  from  us. 
Here  our  path  went  off  into  the  air,  and  began  again  on  the  other 
side  of  the  vastly  deep  chasm,  a  good  sixty  feet  away.  "Rather 
long  for  a  jump,"  was  Rayburn's  curt  comment  as  we  pulled  up 
on  the  edge  of  the  precipice  and  looked  at  each  other  blankly. 
Yet  it  was  evident  that  those  who  had  made  with  such  great  ex 
pense  of  toil  and  time  these  path-ways  on  the  opposite  sides 
of  the  canon  had  crossed  in  some  way  from  the  one  to  the  other 
at  this  point,  and  the  only  surmise  that  seemed  to  fit  the  facts 
of  the  case  was  that  there  had  been  stretched  across  the  chasm 
a  swinging  bridge  of  lianas — such  as  still  are  to  be  found  span 
ning  streams  in  the  hot  lands  of  Mexico — and  that  in  the  course 
of  ages  this  had  rotted  entirely  away.  But  as  this  bridge,  if  ever 
there  had  been  one  here,  was  absolutely  gone,  we  found  our 
selves  in  as  shrewdly  strait  a  place  as  men  well  could  be  in.  To 
go  ahead  was  as  clearly  impossible  as  was  the  hopelessness  of 
turning  back  upon  our  path.  At  the  most,  we  could  only  return 
to  the  valley  out  of  which  we  had  climbed  with  such  thankful- 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE          99 

ness;  and  rather  than  go  back  to  die  of  starvation  in  that 
place,  so  beautiful  and  so  desolate,  there  was  not  one  of  us  but 
would  have  chosen  to  end  all  quickly  by  springing  into  the  gulf 
above  which  we  stood. 

But  while  we  thus  stood  in  dreary  contemplation  of  the  mis 
erable  prospect  before  us,  Young,  as  his  habit  was,  was  spying 
about  him  sharply,  and  so  spied  out  a  way  of  deliverance  for 
us.  The  announcement  of  his  discovery  was  made  in  a  very 
characteristic  way. 

"You  set  up  to  be  some  punkins  of  an  engineer,  now  don't 
you?"  he  said,  addressing  Rayburn.  "But  did  you  ever  happen 
to  hear  of  a  bridge  that  was  hung  up  at  one  end  an'  that  was 
operated  by  swingin'  it  backward  an'  forward  like  a  pendulum?" 

"No,"  Rayburn  answered,  promptly  and  decisively,  "I  never 
did." 

"So  I  thought,"  Young  went  on.  "Well,  you've  admitted 
that  in  sev'ral  things  th'  man  who  was  in  charge  of  construction 
on  this  line  could  have  given  you  points,  an'  this  swingin'  bridge 
notion  is  one  of  'em.  I  can't  say  that  I  think  much  of  it.  It 
wouldn't  do  in  railroads,  for  sure;  but  there  is  a  good  deal  to 
be  said  in  favor  of  it  when  it  helps  folks  out  of  such  a  hole  as 
we're  in  now — an'  if  it  still  is  in  workin'  order,  that  is  just  what 
it's  going  to  do.  There  it  is.  Do  you  catch  on?" 

We  all  looked  in  the  direction  in  which  Young  pointed,  and 
so  saw — pendent  from  a  point  far  up  on  the  overhang  of  rock, 
and  but  indistinctly  showing  in  the  shadow — a  great  chain  that 
at  its  lower  end  was  caught  in  a  metal  hook  set  in  the  face  of 
the  cliff  at  the  extreme  back  of  the  ledge  on  which  we  stood. 
For  my  part,  I  did  not  at  once  catch  the  meaning  of  Young's 
words  even  when  I  saw  the  chain,  but  Rayburn  understood  it 
all  in  a  moment. 

"By  Jovel"  he  exclaimed,  "that  is  a  notion  I  You  grab  the 
end  of  it  and  just  swing  across  to  the  other  side!" 

Young  already  had  loosened  the  chain  from  the  hook  and 
was  testing  its  strength  by  putting  his  weight  on  it.  At  the  end 
of  it  was  a  crossbar  big  enough  to  get  a  good  grip  upon;  and 
this,  and  the  chain  itself,  were  wrought  of  the  bright,  hard 
metal  of  which  we  had  encountered  so  many  specimens.  The 


ioo        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

upper  end  was  made  fast  high  above  us  in  the  out-jut  of  rock, 
very  nearly  over  the  centre  of  the  canon ;  so  that  no  great  force 
was  required  to  carry  whoever  grasped  the  crossbar,  and  so 
swung  out  boldly,  clear  across  the  chasm  to  the  ledge  on  the 
other  side.  But  I  confess  that  the  thought  of  such  a  passage 
made  me  feel  a  little  dizzy  and  sick;  and  never  did  I  long  to  be 
safely  back  in  my  class-room  at  Ann  Arbor  as  I  did  just  then ! 

"It  seems  t'  be  all  right,"  said  Young,  "but  I  guess  you  may 
as  well  take  a  pull  on  it  with  me,  Rayburn.  There'd  be  no  fun 
in  havin'  it  fetch  away  when  a  man  was  about  half  across,  an' 
we  may  as  well  make  th'  thing  sure."  And  then,  as  the  chain 
still  held  firm  under  the  double  strain,  he  added,  "Well,  here 
goes";  and,  so  speaking,  took  a  running  start  and  went  swinging 
out  over  the  abyss. 

My  heart  was  in  my  mouth  as  he  leaped  forth  and  shot  out 
from  and  far  below  us;  but  in  a  moment  he  rose  along  the 
curve  that  he  was  traversing  and  was  safely  landed  on  the 
other  side.  "It's  a  boss  invention.  Workin'  it  is  just  as  easy 
as  rollin'  off  a  log,"  he  called  across  to  us;  and  to  show  how 
easily  the  passage  was  made,  he  instantly  swung  himself  back 
again. 

Pablo  had  manifested  signs  of  strong  uneasiness  while  this 
talk  and  action  were  in  progress,  and  in  a  very  anxious  tone  he 
now  inquired  "But  how  will  it  be  with  the  Wise  One,  sefior?" 

"Why,  gettin'  him  across  will  be  as  easy  as  open  an'  shut," 
Young  answered,  speaking  in  English  to  Rayburn  and  to  me. 
"We'll  just  rig  him  in  th'  rope  slings  again,  an'  make  him  fast 
to  th'  chain,  an'  give  him  a  good  boost  to  start  him,  and  over 
he'll  go  before  he  fairly  knows  he's  started." 

But  when  we  came  to  apply  this  brisk  statement  of  the  case 
practically,  we  found  it  by  no  means  easy  of  execution.  El 
Sabio  grew  restive  as  we  arranged  the  slings  of  rope  about  his 
body,  evidently  remembering,  fearfully,  the  strange  journey 
that  he  had  made  in  the  air  when  we  had  rigged  him  in  a  like 
manner  in  order  to  trice  him  up  to  where  the  stair  began;  and 
he  grew  yet  more  restive  as  we  fastened  the  rope  slings  to  the 
end  of  the  chain.  Rayburn  had  crossed  to  the  other  side — 
passing  the  chain  back  by  weighting  it  with  a  rock — and  stood 


HE  TOOK  A  RUNNING  START  AND  WENT  SWINGING  OVER  THE   ABYSS 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        101 

ready  to  receive  El  Sabio  when  he  was  swung  across.  But  partly 
owing  to  a  want  of  skill  in  our  management  of  him,  yet  more  to 
his  own  unruliness — for  just  as  we  started  him,  with  a  strong 
push,  he  clapped  down  his  fore-feet  upon  the  edge  of  the  cliff 
and  so  checked  his  swing  outward — he  did  not  swing  within 
reach  of  Rayburn's  hands.  And  so  he  came  back  towards  us 
again,  and  then  out  once  more  towards  Rayburn;  and  so  swung 
slowly  and  yet  more  slowly  until  at  last  he  hung  motionless  over 
the  very  middle  of  the  gulf,  with  nothing  between  him  and  the 
rocks  below  but  a  thousand  feet  of  air.  And  then  El  Sabio  be 
gan  to  kick  with  a  vigor  that  set  to  rattling  every  link  in  t'he 
chain ! 

Pablo  was  cast  by  this  mischance  into  a  veritable  frenzy  of 
fright;  and  we  were  most  seriously  frightened  also— not  only 
because  the  destruction  of  the  poor  ass  was  imminent,  but  be 
cause  of  the  danger  which  menaced  ourselves.  Our  party  was 
divided,  and  should  the  chain  give  way,  under  stress  of  El  Sabio's 
kicks  and  plunges,  all  possibility  of  our  coming  together  again 
was  at  an  end.  Rayburn  might  leave  us  and  go  on;  and  so, 
perhaps,  save  his  own  life.  But  for  the  rest  of  us  there  would 
be  no  hope.  Behind  us  was  death  by  starvation.  In  front  of 
us  was  this  impassable  gulf. 

From  Pablo,  who  was  quite  wild  with  dreadful  anticipations 
of  the  parting  of  the  chain  and  the  loss  to  him  forever  of  his 
friend,  least  was  to  be  expected  in  the  strait  wherein  we  were; 
yet  it  was  from  Pablo  that  our  rescue  came.  With  a  quick  ap 
prehension  of  the  needs  of  the  case,  he  rove  a  running-knot  in 
the  end  of  one  of  the  pack-ropes,  and  with  a  dexterous  cast  of 
this  improvised  lasso  set  the  loop  of  it  about  El  Sabio's  neck 
as  that  unfortunate  animal  for  a  moment  ceased  his  strugglings 
and  hung  still.  And  then  we  all  strained  on  the  rope  together, 
and  in  a  minute  had  El  Sabio  safely  with  us  again;  but  in  such 
a  state  of  terror  that  pity  for  him  wrung  our  hearts. 

But  the  limpness  which  the  reaction  from  such  deadly  fear 
threw  him  into  made  handling  him  easy;  and  this  time,  when 
we  launched  him  forth  (taking  the  precaution,  however,  to  fas 
ten  one  end  of  a  rope  to  the  chain),  he  went  sailing  across  the 
full  width  of  the  chasm,  and  Rayburn  in  a  moment  had  him 


102        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

landed  in  safety.  The  instant  that  the  chain  was  loosened 
Pablo  hauled  it  back,  and  an  instant  later  swung  lightly  across 
the  canon,  and  straightway  fell  to  fondling  the  terrified  creature 
and  comforting  him  with  all  manner  of  tender  words.  And  he 
so  piteously  besought  us  to  give  El  Sabio  one  good  drink  that 
we  passed  the  water-keg  and  the  bucket  across,  and  permitted 
the  poor  ass  to  drink  half  of  our  stock  of  water  without  debate 
of  the  sacrifice.  Indeed,  this  refreshment  was  so  necessary  to 
him  that  without  it  I  doubt  if  he  could  have  gone  on. 

While  El  Sabio  thus  gathered  courage  and  strength  again, 
Young  swung  over  to  the  other  side,  and  we  passed  our  stores 
across  from  ledge  to  ledge — having  ropes  made  fast  to  the  chain, 
and  so  steadying  each  load  from  the  one  side  while  we  hauled 
from  the  other.  This  was  easy  work,  and  we  quickly  finished 
it.  When  it  was  ended  I  braced  myself  for  the  flying  journey 
through  the  air  across  that  gulf  so  deep  that  the  bottom  of  it 
was  lost  in  black  shadows,  through  which  the  sparkling  water 
faintly  gleamed;  and  my  heart  so  throbbed  within  me  as  I  took 
the  bar  in  my  hands,  with  the  knowledge  that  should  I  lose  hold 
of  it  death  waited  for  me  below  in  those  dark  shadows,  that  my 
breath  came  irregularly  and  I  heard  a  dismal  ringing  in  my 
ears.  Yet  I  had  less  to  fear  than  either  of  the  others  who  had 
crossed  before  me,  for  the  ropes  still  were  fast  to  the  chain ;  and 
should  I  not  swing  far  enough  I  would  be  helped  to  safety  by 
my  companions.  But  for  shame,  I  should  have  made  my  body 
fast  to  the  chain  by  a  rope  sling,  and  so  have  gone  across  as  our 
stores  had  gone  rather  than  as  a  man.  But  my  pride  forbade 
my  surrender  in  this  fashion  to  my  fears;  and  it  was  a  lucky 
thing  for  me  that  it  did. 

Holding  the  bar  in  my  hands,  I  rah  briskly  across  the  ledge, 
and,  with  a  strong  kick  on  the  edge  of  the  cliff  to  give  me  addi 
tional  impetus,  I  went  spinning  out  into  space.  For  an  age,  as 
it  seemed  to  me,  I  sank  rapidly;  while  that  horrible  feeling  pos 
sessed  me — the  like  of  which  people  subject  to  sea-sickness  feel 
as  the  ship  drops  away  beneath  them  into  the  trough  of  the 
sea — of  falling  away  from  my  own  stomach.  And  then,  just 
as  my  strength  seemed  to  be  failing,  and  my  hold  on  the  bar 
loosing,  I  perceived  that  I  was  rising  again;  and  this  put  a 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        103 

little  fresh  heart  in  me,  and  I  tightened  my  grip  on  the  bar. 
Ten  seconds,  no  doubt,  was  the  full  extent  of  the  time  that 
my  passage  consumed;  but  it  seemed  to  me  then,  and  it  seems 
to  me  still  as  I  think  of  it,  a  long  ten  years.  And  a  thrill  of 
terror  goes  through  me  as  I  think  also  of  how  near  I  then 
came  to  a  horrible  death;  for  at  the  very  moment  that  I  reached 
the  farther  side  of  the  canon  there  was  a  little  tinkling  sound  in 
the  air  above  me,  and  the  bar  that  I  held  was  twitched  out  of 
my  hands,  and  then  came  a  loud  jingling  of  metal  on  rock, 
and  as  I  turned  quickly  I  saw  a  gleam  of  sunlight  catch  the 
great  chain  as  it  went  twisting  downward  into  the  black  gulf 
below. 


Chapter  XV 

DOUBTLESS  the  violent  strain  to  which  the  chain  had  been 
JJ  subjected  by  El  Sabio's  kicking  and  plunging  had  loosened 


the  fastenings,  centuries  old,  which  held  it  to  the  rock;  for  the 
chain  had  not  broken,  but  had  come  away  entire.  I  sank  down 
on  the  rock  as  weak  with  terror  as  the  poor  ass  had  been; 
and  like  him  I  drank  greedily  of  water,  and  panted  for  a  while, 
and  at  last  found  my  courage  coming  back  to  me. 

Yet  my  case  was  a  happy  one  compared  with  that  of  Fray 
Antonio.  Howsoever  narrow  my  escape  had  been,  the  fact 
remained  that  I  had  come  out  from  my  encounter  with  Death 
safe  and  unharmed;  but  on  Fray  Antonio's  shoulder  we  could 
but  dread  that  Death  already  had  laid  his  hand.  And  that  he 
knew  how  close  to  him  Death  was  standing  we  could  see  by  a 
certain  elate  and  confident  air  of  courage  in  his  bearing,  and  by 
the  wonderful  tenderness  and  sweetness  of  his  smile.  Truly, 
never  did  I  know  a  man  so  ready  at  all  times  as  this  man  was 
to  lay  down  the  life  that  God  had  given  him ;  holding  it  but  as 
a  trust  that  might  at  any  moment  be  called  back  to  the  source 
when  it  came.  Yet  because  it  was  a  trust,  meant  to  be  put  to 
useful  purposes,  Fray  Antonio  valued  his  life  and  cared  for  it. 
And  at  this  time  it  was  he  himself  who  devised  a  plan  by  which 
it  might  be  saved. 

The  ropes  which  were  fastened  to  the  chain,  being  held  stoutly 
on  the  one  side  by  Fray  Antonio  and  on  the  other  by  Young, 
fortunately  had  broken  as  the  great  weight  of  the  chain  sud 
denly  had  come  upon  them,  and  had  broken  so  close  to  the 
knots  which  held  them  that  nearly  the  whole  of  their  length 
remained.  The  plan  that  the  monk  now  devised  for  coming 
across  to  us — and  a  bold  heart  was  required  even  to  think  of 
this  daring  enterprise — was  that  with  the  two  ropes  fastened 
about  his  body  at  one  end,  and  held  by  all  of  us  at  the  other,  he 
should  swing  down  into  the  chasm  and  far  under  the  promontory 
of  rock  on  which  we  stood,  and  then  that  we  should  haul  him 

104 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         105 

up  to  us.  The  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  executing  this  plan 
was  in  getting  the  line  across  between  us;  its  great  danger  lay 
in  the  probability — notwithstanding  the  depth  of  the  recess  be 
neath  us — that  he  would  be  dashed  against  the  rocks  with  such 
force  as  to  kill  him  outright. 

But  Young,  who  usually  was  ready  for  any  emergency  that 
might  arise,  hunted  out  a  ball  of  twine  that  was  a  part  of  our 
stores,  and  one  end  of  this  he  made  fast  to  a  fragment  of  rock, 
and  by  a  strong  heave  of  it  landed  it  safe  on  the  other  side; 
whereafter  the  rigging  of  the  double  rope  across  was  an  easy 
matter. 

Very  carefully,  testing  the  knots  as  he  made  them,  Fray 
Antonio  fastened  the  double  line  about  his  body,  beneath  his 
shoulders,  and  so  stood  ready  on  the  edge  of  the  chasm;  while 
we  four  stood  holding  the  line,  with  all  our  muscles  braced  for 
the  strain  that  would  come  upon  it  as  he  swung  downward.  For 
a  moment  he  paused,  with  his  face  turned  upward  while  his 
lips  moved.  Then  he  waved  his  hand,  and  smiled  as  he  called 
across  to  us,  "It  is  as  God  wills!"  and  so  dropped  away  from 
the  ledge,  and  like  a  flash  went  down  beyond  our  range  of  sight. 

We  felt  the  jar  on  the  ropes  as  his  body  struck  against  the 
face  of  the  cliff  far  below  us,  and  the  reflex  action  as  he  swung 
out  again,  and  thereafter  the  slower  motion  of  the  ropes  as 
he  swayed  back  and  forth  dangling  over  that  black  and  awful 
chasm.  And  as  the  ropes  settled  into  steadiness  we  drew  him 
up  towards  us;  yet  dreaded,  because  of  the  dull  weight  of  it, 
and  because  no  assuring  cry  came  up  to  us,  that  what  we  lifted 
was  a  corpse. 

And,  in  truth,  as  we  raised  the  body  of  Fray  Antonio  over  the 
edge  of  the  cliff  it  seemed  as  though  this  dread  were  realized; 
for  a  great  bloody  gash  was  upon  his  temple,  and  his  limbs 
were  limp  and  lifeless,  and  his  face  was  deathly  pale.  At  sight 
of  which  there  came  into  my  heart  a  bursting  pain,  as  though 
some  one  had  stabbed  me  there;  and  there  were  tears  in  Young's 
eyes ;  and  Rayburn  gave  vent  to  his  sorrow  in  a  great  curse  that 
was  half  a  groan.  As  for  Pablo,  whom  no  danger  could  daunt, 
and  who  would  bear  without  flinching  any  hurt  of  his  own,  this 
dreadful  sight  so  moved  him  that  he  fainted  dead  away. 


106        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

Yet  even  in  the  moment  that  such  deep  sorrow  seemed  to 
be  settling  down  upon  us,  Fray  Antonio  slightly  moved  his  lips, 
and  there  came  forth  from  them  a  low  faint  sigh — whereupon 
Young  jumped  up  with  a  shout  and  relieved  his  mind  by  ad 
ministering  to  Pablo  a  hearty  kick,  which  he  accompanied  with 
the  remark:  "You  infernal  fool  of  a  Greaser  Indian,  what  do 
you  mean  by  swoundin'?  He  ain't  dead  at  alll" 

As  tenderly  as  I  could  for  the  trembling  of  my  hands,  I  washed 
away  the  blood  from  about  the  cut  and  bathed  Fray  Antonio's 
pale  face,  while  Rayburn  gave  him  a  sup  of  whiskey  from  his 
flask.  And  then,  presently,  his  eyes  opened  and  energy  came 
into  his  body  once  more.  In  a  little  while  he  was  on  his  feet 
again,  and  as  well  as  ever,  save  for  the  smarting  of  his  cut, 
and  in  his  head  a  dizziness  and  a  dull  throbbing  pain.  Just 
what  had  happened  he  could  not  tell.  He  knew  that  he  had 
struck  against  the  rock  with  his  feet,  as  he  had  planned  to  do; 
but  he  must  have  swung  around,  when  the  force  of  the  impact 
had  been  thus  partly  broken,  and  struck  his  head  against  some 
sharp  projection,  and  so  have  been  cut  and  stunned.  We  were 
all  glad  to  rest  quietly  where  we  were  for  the  night,  for  our 
bodies  were  tired  and  our  nerves  were  racked  and  strained. 

We  should  have  been  most  thankful  for  a  big  potful  of  cof 
fee,  but  there  was  no  wood  with  which  we  could  make  a  fire. 
The  best  that  we  could  do,  and  there  was  not  much  comfort 
in  it,  was  to  chew  some  coffee  grains  after  we1  had  made  a  sup 
per  upon  one  of  our  few  remaining  tins  of  meat;  and  then  we 
rolled  ourselves  in  our  blankets  and  lay  down  upon  the  bare  rock. 
And  I  must  say  that  if  anybody  had  asked  me  at  that  moment 
if  archaeology  was  a  study  that  paid  for  the  trouble  that  it 
cost,  I  should  have  said  most  unhesitatingly  that  it  was  not. 
In  my  sleep  I  made  again  the  dreadful  passage,  and  heard  the 
clinking  of  the  chain  as  it  parted,  and  the  rattle  of  it  as  it  struck 
the  rocks,  and  felt  the  grasp  of  Rayburn  as  he  caught  me,  just 
as  the  bar  was  twiched  out  of  my  hands — and  so  woke  to  find 
Young  shaking  me,  and  to  hear  him  say:  "There's  no  earthly 
sense  in  your  kickin'  around  that  way,  Professor;  an*,  anyhow, 
it's  time  t'  get  up.  It's  just  a  wonder  how  these  Mexican  morn- 
in's  put  life  into  a  man.  Why,  there's  a  freshness  in  thT  air 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         107 

that's  goin'  t'  waste  in  this  canon  that's  fit  t'  make  a  coffin 
stand  right  up  on  end  an'  dance  a  jig!" 

Even  Fray  Antonio,  but  for  the  soreness  of  his  hurt,  felt 
strong  and  well;  and  we  ate  another  tin  of  meat — which  was 
much  less  than  we  wanted  to  eat — and  so  started  along  the 
path  hewn  out  of  the  side  of  the  cliff;  and  what  with  the  bright 
ness  and  joyfulness  of  the  morning,  we  certainly  were  in  much 
higher  spirits  than  was  at  all  reasonable  in  the  case  of  men 
who  had  had  such  close  companionship  with  Death  so  short  a 
time  before,  and  who  still  stood  a  very  fair  chance  of  dying  dis 
mally  of  starvation.  We  were  stayed  by  the  reasonable  con 
viction  that  the  path  which  we  were  travelling  upon  certainly 
would  lead  us  out  of  the  mountains  at  last — even  if  it  did  not 
lead  us  to  the  hidden  city  that  we  sought. 

For  five  or  six  miles  we  doubled  on  our  course  of  the  day 
before,  going  back  along  the  canon  and  seeing  the  path  that 
we  had  followed  a  little  below  us  on  the  other  side;  then,  by  a 
very  easy  grade,  our  course  began  to  ascend,  and  went  on  rising 
until  the  other  path  was  so  far  below  us  that  it  ceased  to  be 
distinguishable.  Thus  we  came  to  within  a  few  hundred  feet  of 
the  top  of  the  cliffs,  when  a  sudden  turn  to  the  left  carried  us  into 
a  narrow  cleft  in  the  rock.  Here  the  path  was  very  sharply  in 
clined  upward  for  a  little  way;  and  for  the  remainder  of  the 
distance  to  the  top  we  ascended  a  long  series  of  rudely  cut  steps, 
so  steep  that  our  legs  fairly  cracked  under  us  as  we  neared  the 
end  of  them. 

But  we  forgot  our  weariness  as  we  came  out  upon  the  summit 
at  last,  and  a  great  view  of  clouds  and  mountain  peaks  burst 
upon  us;  the  like  of  which  I  never  have  seen  approached.  But 
here  we  saw  all  around  us  what  there  is  seen  only  in  one  direc 
tion;  for  we  were  on  a  vastly  high,  square  crest  and  clouds  and 
mountain  peaks  rose  up  about  us  on  every  side. 

But  we  did  not  long  contemplate  this  heroic  landscape,  for 
a  cloud,  which  almost  enveloped  us  as  we  finished  our  ascent  of 
the  stair,  was  swept  still  farther  away  by  the  brisk  wind  then 
blowing;  so  that  suddenly  a  vast  building  loomed  largely  through 
the  flying  vapor,  and  in  a  moment  was  clear  and  distinct  before 
our  eyes.  To  find  upon  this  bare  mountain-top,  among  cloud 


io8        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

solitudes  so  profound  as  these,  such  overpowering  evidence  of 
the  labor  and  strength  of  man,  sent  thrilling  through  our  breasts 
a  wonder  that  was  akin  to  awe.  It  seemed  unreal,  impossible, 
that  in  such  a  place  such  work  could  be  accomplished;  and  the 
very  tangible  reality  of  it  made  it  seem  to  me  one  of  those 


i        , 

^'  I ""' 


__\  fill 

•*••"• v" 


„  _    m  •.      -:  • 

=iu--.,  \ 

-  -* 


.. 

ili 


SUDDENLY   A   VAST   BUILDING    LOOMED    LARGELY   THROUGH    THE 
FLYING  VAPOR 

prodigies  of  man's  creation  which  old  stories  tell  of  as  having 
been  wrought  by  a  league  with  the  devil  and  at  the  cost  of  a  hu 
man  soul. 

Had  there  been  any  signs  at  all  of  human  life  about  this  sol 
emn  and  majestic  building,  or  upon  the  mountain-top  whereon  it 
stood,  the  chilling  hold  that  it  took  upon  our  imaginations  would 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        109 

have  been  less  strong.  What  wrought  upon  us  was  the  deadly 
silence,  and  the  absolute  stillness  of  everything  save  the  drift 
ing  clouds.  It  seemed  to  us  as  though  we  had  come  out  from 
the  living  world  and  our  own  time  into  a  dead  region  belonging 
to  a  long  dead  past;  and  I  remembered  with  a  shudder  that 
we  had  entered  this  region  through  that  gloomy  cavern,  where 
hundreds  of  the  ancient  dead  were  clustered  in  silent  worship 
about  the  great  silent  idol  carved  in  everlasting  stone.  It 
seemed  as  though  some  evil  spell  hung  over  us,  that  doomed  us 
forever  to  wander  in  wild  solitudes — which  were  the  more  ap 
palling  because  constantly  uprose  before  us  tangible  evidence 
of  the  strong  current  of  eager  human  life  that  had  pulsed 
through  them  in  former  times.  Young  but  put  into  his  own 
rough  language  the  thought  that  was  in  all  our  hearts  when 
he  declared,  with  a  great  oath,  that  for  the  sake  of  getting  safe 
out  of  this  lonely  hole  he'd  contract  to  fight  Indians  three  days 
in  every  week  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  and  be  glad  to  do  it  for 
the  comfort  of  having  somebody  around  who  was  alive. 


Chapter  XVI 

whole  top  of  the  mountain,  near  a  mile  square,  had 
JL  been  so  levelled  by  nature  that  little  remained  to  be  done 
for  its  further  smoothing  by  the  hand  of  man.  But  the  amount 
of  work  that  had  gone  into  the  mere  preparation  for  the  building 
of  the  great  temple  was  almost  incredible.  In  the  centre  of  the 
plateau  a  pyramidal  mass  of  rock  near  a  thousand  feet  square, 
of  a  piece  with  the  mountain  itself,  had  been  so  shaped  and 
hewn  that  it  rose  in  three  great  terraces  to  the  square  apex  on 
which  the  temple  stood.  These  terraces  slanted  upward,  sur 
rounding  the  pyramid  by  a  continuously  ascending  way  that 
had  its  beginning  and  its  ending  in  the  centre  of  the  eastern 
front — so  that,  allowing  for  the  diminishing  size  of  the  pyra 
mid,  the  distance  by  this  way  from  the  bottom  to  the  top  of  it 
was  more  than  a  mile  and  a  half. 

"It  just  took  a  slow-goin',  lazy  heathen  Greaser  t'  think  out  a 
thing  like  this,"  Young  observed  as  we  went  up  the  path.  "It's 
just  th'  Greaser  fashion  all  over  t'  spend  a  hundred  years  or  so 
in  makin'  a  path  five  miles  long  around  a  hill  about  as  high 
as  th'  Boston  State-house,  so's  they  can  get  up  it  easy  an'  save 
their  wind.  But  I  wish  they'd  put  in  drinkin'  fountains  along 
th'  road." 

"Drinking  fountains?"  Rayburn,  who  was  a  little  in  ad 
vance,  called  back  to  us.  "Well,  so  they  did.  Come  along  and 
drink  as  much  as  you  want  to." 

"Cut  that,  Rayburn,"  Young  answered.  "I'm  too  dead  in 
earnest  about  my  being  thirsty  to  stand  any  foolin'." 

"I'm  not  fooling" — we  had  caught  up  with  him  by  this  time 
—"look  for  yourself." 

To  which  Young's  only  reply  was  to  spring  forward  eagerly 
and  drink  a  long  deep  draught  from  a  stone  basin  beside  the 
path  into  which  trickled  a  tiny  stream  from  above.  Finding 
water  in  this  unlikely  place  was  as  great  a  surprise  as  it  was  a 
joy  to  us;  for  we  all  longed  for  it,  yet  dared  not  drink  freely 

no 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        in 

because  our  supply  was  nearly  gone.  It  was  touching  to  hear 
the  long  sigh  of  happiness  that  El  Sabio  gave  when  at  last  he 
lifted  his  dripping  snout  out  of  the  basin;  and  then  to  see  the 
look  that  he  gave  Pablo,  as  though  to  thank  him  for  so  blessedly 
plentiful  a  drink.  In  truth,  the  Wise  One  had  not  tasted  a  drop 
of  water  for  nearly  twenty-four  hours — not  since  his  perilous 
passage  of  the  canon — and  his  throat,  and  his  poor  little  inside 
generally,  must  have  been  very  dry. 

When  we  came  out  on  the  top  of  the  pyramid  at  last,  which 
at  that  moment  was  wrapped  in  clouds  almost  as  dense  as  London 
fog,  we  perceived  the  ingenious  plan  that  had  been  adopted  in 
order  to  secure  water  plentifully  on  this  mountain-top.  By 
careful  scoring  of  the  rock  with  many  little  channels,  all  leading 
to  a  cistern  that  seemed  to  be  of  great  dimensions,  the  warm 
vapor  of  the  clouds  as  it  condensed  into  water  on  touching  the 
chill  stone  surface  was  captured  and  safely  stored  away.  And 
from  the  overflow  of  the  cistern  the  fountain  below  was  fed. 

But  we  did  not  stop  to  examine  very  carefully  into  this  mat 
ter,  so  eager  were  we  to  press  on  to  the  temple  close  before  us. 
This  stood  upon  a  terraced  platform,  cut  from  the  living  rock, 
and  was  a  perfectly  plain  structure — with  walls  slightly  reced 
ing  inward  as  they  rose,  and  wholly  destitute  of  ornamentation. 
For  its  majestic  effect  it  depended  upon  its  great  size  and  upon 
its  admirable  proportions;  and  being  built  of  the  dark  rock  of 
which  the  mountain  was  formed,  and  having  about  it  much  of 
the  sombre  feeling  that  characterizes  Egyptian  architecture,  it 
had  an  air  of  great  solemnity  and  gloom. 

In  silence  we  ascended  the  short  flight  of  steps  that  led  to 
the  broad,  doorless  entrance — the  only  opening  through  the 
massive  walls — and  so  came  into  the  vast  shadowy  hall  that 
these  great  walls  enclosed.  From  front  to  back  of  this  hall 
extended  many  rows  of  stone  pillars — like  the  single  row  found 
in  the  great  chamber  among  the  ruins  of  Mitla — and  by  these 
were  upheld  the  huge  slabs  of  stone  of  which  the  roof  was 
made.  Far  away  from  where  we  stood,  down  at  the  end  of  a 
long  vista  of  pillars,  was  a  stone  altar  on  which  was  carved  in 
stone  a  colossal  figure  of  the  god  Chac-Mool.  Looking  back 
through  the  open  entrance,  I  saw  a  break  in  the  mountain  peaks 


ii2        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

to  the  eastward;  and  so  perceived  that  the  first  rays  of  the  rising 
sun  must  needs  enter  here  and  strike  full  upon  the  disk  that 
was  poised  in  the  figure's  hands.  As  Pablo  caught  sight  of  the 
great  idol  recumbent  there,  a  momentary  shudder  went  through 
him  and  he  made  certain  motions  with  his  hand  before  his  eyes 
that  were  strange  to  me. 

As  we  drew  near  to  the  altar  we  found  that  in  front  of  it  was 
a  sacrificial  stoneT  still  darkly  stained  where  blood  had  Sowed 
upon  it;  and  beneath  the  stone  neck-yokeT  still  resting  thereT  was 
a  withered  remnant  of  human  vertebras.  There  was  something 
very  ghastly  in  finding — preserved  by  the  very  stone  that  had 
held  him  down  while  life  was  let  out  of  him — this  mere  scrap 
of  the  last  human  victim  who  had  perished  here.  As  in  the 
desolate  valley,  so  also  on  this  desolate  mountain-top,  the  only 
proof  that  human  life  ever  had  been  here  was  found  in  proof 
of  human  death. 

Save  that  our  curiosity  was  gratified,  and  the  blessing  of  the 
water  which  we  had  found,  our  ascent  of  the  great  pyramid 
and  our  examination  of  the  temple  bore  no  fruit.  Young,  who 
still  seemed  to  think  that  tilting  up  and  disclosing  secret  passages 
was  an  attribute  of  all  statues  of  the  god  Chac-Mool,  was  here 
again  convinced  that  his  generalization  from  a  single  case  was  not 
a  sound  one.  In  a  serious  way  he  climbed  upon  the  altar  and 
sat  first  on  the  head  of  the  god,  and  then  on  his  feet,  and  even 
tried  the  effect  of  seating  himself  upon  the  stone  disk.  But 
through  all  of  these  experiments  the  stone  figure  remained  sol 
idly  immovable. 

"I  guess  there  was  only  one  o'  that  tippin'  kind,"  Young  said, 
at  last,  "an*  he  sort  o'  flocked  by  himself.  Let's  get  out  of  here, 
anyway.  If  this  ever  was  the  Aztec  bank  that  we're  lookin' 
for,  there  must  have  been  a  prehistoric  run  on  it  that  cleaned 
it  out.  They  must  have  done  that  sort  o'  thing  in  old  times, 
eh,  Professor?  But  it  don't  make  much  difference  to  us  now 
what  they  did  or  what  they  didn't;  an'  we'oTbetter  fill  up  with 
water  an'  get  out — that  is,  if  there  is  any  way  of  gettin'  out 
except  along  the  way  we  came.  There's  no  good  in  goin'  back 
that  way.  It  would  be  better  t'  settle  down  here  an'  starve 
comfortably  without  wearin'  out  shoe-leather  doin'  it.  But  I 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         113 

don't  mean  t'  do  that  until  IVc  had  a  look  all  around  th1  top 
of  this  God-forsaken  mountain,  an'  made  sure  that  there's  only 
one  way  down." 

Our  empty  water-kegs  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  pyramid, 
and  when  we  reached  the  fountain  on  our  downward  way  we 
waited  there  while  Pablo  went  on  with  El  Sabio  and  fetched 
them  up  to  us.  There  was  at  least  solid  comfort  in  knowing, 
as  we  went  on  downward  with  the  kegs  all  filled,  that,  whatever 
other  death  might  come  to  us,  at  least  we  could  not  die  of  thirst. 
At  the  bottom  of  the  pyramid  we  left  Fray  Antonio  and  Pablo, 
with  El  Sabio  and  the  packs,  and  the  three  of  us  set  out  to 
explore  the  three  sides  of  the  mountain-top  that  were  unknown 
to  us  in  search  of  a  downward  path.  A  heavy  mass  of  clouds 
had  drifted  over  the  mountain  again,  so  thick  that  at  a  rod  away 
all  was  white  mist  around  us;  and  the  light  was  growing  faint, 
for  the  day  had  come  nearly  to  an  end.  Indeed,  had  we  been 
upon  the  lower  levels  of  the  earth  night  would  havel>een  already 
upon  us. 

Making  my  way  along  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  where  die 
plateau  broke  sheer  off,  was  ticklish  work,  but  my  path-hunting 
was  without  result,  for  nowhere  along  the  edge  of  the  plateau 
was  there  a  break  fit  for  the  descent  of  any  creature  save  such 
as  had  wings.  At  the  end  of  nearly  an  hour  the  clouds  once 
more  lifted;  and  then  I  saw  Rayburn  coming  towards  me,  but 
with  a  serious  look  upon  his  face  that  told  that  he  also  had  been 
unsuccessful  in  his  search. 

"It  has  rather  a  bad  look,  Professor,"  he  said,  briefly,  when 
I  had  told  him  that  along  all  the  face  of  the  mountain  that  I 
had  examined  the  rock  went  down  sheer.  He  filled  his  pipe  and 
lighted  it,  and  we  walked  back  to  the  base  of  the  pyramid  in 
silence,  while  he  smoked.  Young  had  not  returned;  but  pres 
ently  we  heard  a  shout  that  had  so  hopeful  a  sound  in  it  as 
to  start  us  both  to  our  feet  and  forth  to  meet  him. 

"Have  you  found  a  way  down?"  Rayburn  called,  as  he  came 
nearer  to  us. 

"You  bet  I  have,"  he  called  back;  "and,  what's  more,  I've 
seen  somethin'  to  eat." 


ii4        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

"Seen  something!"  Rayburn  answered,  as  he  joined  us. 
"Why  the  dickens  didn't  you  get  it?" 

"Well,  because  it  was  better'n  a  mile  away  from  me.  It 
looked  like  a  mountain  sheep,  as  well  as  I  could  make  out;  but 
there  it  was  for  sure;  an'  thinkin'  how  good  that  critter  will 
taste  roasted  has  given  me  a  regular  twistin'  pain  all  through 
my  empty  inside  I  But  th'  point  is  that  down  on  that  side  o'  th' 
mountain  there's  game;  I  saw  birds,  too,  but  I  couldn't  make  out 
what  they  were;  an',  somehow,  it  looks  different  down  there. 

It  don't  look  like  these  d n  dead  places  we've  been  prowlin' 

through  for  more'n  a  coon's  age.  It  looks  as  if  God  remem 
bered  it,  an'  it  was  alive!  Why,  th'  very  smell  that  came  up 
had  somethin'  good  about  it;  an'  there  was  a  different  taste 
to  th'  air.  I  tell  you,  Rayburn,  I  didn't  know  what  a  lonely 
an'  mis'rable  an'  lost  chump  sort  of  a  way  I  was  in  until  I  looked 
over  there  into  that  place  where  th'  whole  business  ain't  run  by 
dead  folks.  An'  what's  more,  Professor,  that's  the  trail  for 
us;  for,  right  where  it  starts  down,  there's  th'  King's  symbol 
an'  th'  arrow,  all  reg'lar,  blazed  on  th'  rock." 

"Is  the  trail  good  enough  to  make  a  start  on  now?"  Ray- 
burn  asked;  "we  won't  have  more  than  half  an  hour  more  light, 
but  I'd  give  a  lot  to  get  off  this  mountain  before  dark,  and 
every  foot  down  that  we  go  we'll  be  that  much  warmer.  We'd 
stand  a  pretty  fair  chance  of  freezing  up  here  to-night  without 
any  fire." 

"Th'  trail's  all  right  for  a  good  half-mile,  anyway,"  Young 
answered;  "an'  I  guess  it's  good  all  th'  way.  It's  pretty  much 
th'  same  as  th'  one  we  come  up  by,  an'  that's  good  enough, 
where  it  don't  jump  canons,  t'  go  along  in  th'  dark;  but  we 
must  rustle  if  we  mean  t'  do  much  by  daylight." 

We  were  back  at  the  pyramid  by  this  time,  and  we  found  Fray 
Antonio  very  willing  to  be  off  with  us.  Therefore  we  lost  no 
time  in  getting  our  packs  upon  our  backs,  and  upon  the  back 
of  El  Sabio,  and  briskly  started  downward;  and  the  keen  cold 
that  came  into  the  air,  as  the  sun  sunk  away  behind  the  mountain 
peaks  at  last,  warned  us  that  it  was  safer  to  take  the  risks  of 
a  descent  almost  in  darkness  than  to  stay  for  the  night  upon 
that  bleak  mountain-top  without  a  fire. 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        115 

In  twenty  minutes  we  perceived  a  comforting  change  in  the 
temperature;  and  at  the  end  of  an  hour — during  the  last  half 
of  which  we  walked  slowly  and  cautiously  through  the  fast- 
thickening  darkness — there  was  enough  warmth  in  the  air  about 
us  to  make  camping  for  the  night  endurable.  But  we  still  were 
at  a  great  elevation,  and  the  thin  air  was  bitingly  keen,  and  all 
the  more  so  because  of  the  scant  meal  that  we  had  to  comfort 
us  and  to  put  strength  into  us  before  we  wrapped  ourselves  in 
our  blankets  for  sleep. 

"What's  a  mis'rable  two  pounds  of  corned-beef  among  five 
of  us,"  Young  exclaimed,  in  a  tone  of  angry  contempt,  "when 
every  man  in  th'  lot  is  hungry  enough  t'  eat  th'  whole  of  it,  an1 
th'  tin  box  it  comes  in,  an'  then  go  huntin'  for  a  square  meal? 
An'  t'  think  o'  that  sheep  I  saw !  I  say,  Rayburn,  did  you  ever 
eat  a  roast  fore-shoulder  of  mutton,  with  onions  an'  potatoes 
baked  under  it,  an'  a  thick  gra " 

"If  you  don't  hold  your  jaw  about  things  like  that,"  Rayburn 
struck  in,  "I'll  murder  youl" — and  there  was  such  fierceness  in 
his  voice,  and  he  truly  was  such  a  savage  fellow  when  his  anger 
was  up,  that  Young  was  half  frightened  by  his  outburst,  and  so 
was  silent. 

However,  that  was  the  last  day  that  we  suffered  for  want  of 
food.  I  was  awakened  in  the  very  early  morning  by  the  sound 
of  a  rifle-shot,  and  sprang  to  my  feet,  brandishing  my  revolver, 
with  a  confused  belief  in  my  sleepy  mind  that  we  were  attacked 
by  Indians  again ;  and,  truly,  my  first  feeling  was  one  of  pleasure 
at  the  thought  of  meeting,  even  in  deadly  combat,  with  men  who 
were  alive. 

"It's  all  right,  Professor,"  Rayburn  said.  "We're  not  fight 
ing  anybody.  But  I've  killed  a  mountain  sheep,  and  if  we  only 
can  get  him  we'll  have  a  solid  breakfast,  even  if  we  have  to  eat 
him  raw.  He  was  over  on  that  point  of  rock,  and  he's  tumbled 
down  clear  into  the  valley,  and  the  sooner  we  get  down  there 
and  hunt  for  him  the  better." 

In  the  bright  light  of  the  early  morning  we  could  see  below 
us  a  glad  little  valley,  in  which  trees  and  grass  grew,  and  in  the 
centre  of  which  was  a  tiny  lake.  But  what  gave  us  most  joy 
was  seeing  birds  flying  over  the  face  of  the  water,  and  half  a 


n6        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

dozen  mountain  sheep  scampering  away  at  the  sound  of  Ray- 
burn's  shot.  Truly,  the  sight  of  these  live  creatures  was  the 
most  cheery  that  ever  came  to  my  eyes ;  and  as  we  beheld  them, 
and  realized  that  at  last  we  had  emerged  from  the  dreary, 
death-stricken  region  in  which  as  it  seemed  to  me  we  had  spent 


WE  DESCENDED  IT  JOYFULLY  AT  A  SWINGING  TROT 


years,  a  great  wave  of  happiness  rolled  in  upon  and  filled  our 
hearts. 

The  path,  cut  out  along  the  mountain-side,  went  downward 
by  a  sharper  grade  than  that  by  which  we  had  ascended;  and 
we  descended  it  joyfully  at  a  swinging  trot,  with  a  new  life  in 
us  that  made  us  break  out  into  lively  talk  and  laughter  that  set 
the  echoes  to  ringing.  And  presently,  in  a  very  jerky  fashion 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        117 

because  of  his  rapid  motion,  Pablo  piped  awry  on  His  mouth- 
organ  with  "Yankee  Doodle" — and  this  was  the  first  time  that 
he  had  had  the  heart  to  play  upon  his  beloved  "instrumentito" 
since  our  passage  of  the  lake  beneath  which  lay  the  city  of  the 
dead. 

In  an  hour  we  came  fairly  down  into  that  bright  and  lovely 
valley,  where  was  the  sweet  sound  of  birds  calling  to  each  other, 
and  the  glad  sight  of  these  live  creatures  flying  through  the  air. 
As  for  the  sheep  that  Rayburn  had  killed,  he  was  knocked  pretty 
well  into  a  jelly  by  his  half-mile  or  so  of  tumble  down  the  moun 
tain-side.  But  we  were  not  disposed  to  be  over-fastidious,  and 
we  quickly  had  his  ribs  roasting  over  a  brisk  fire:  that  yet  was 
not  so  brisk  as  was  our  hunger,  for  we  began  to  eat  before 
the  meat  was  much  more  than  warmed  through.  When  our 
ravening  appetite  was  appeased  a  little,  Young  got  out  the  cof 
fee-pot  and  set  to  making  coffee.  And  then,  with  meat  well 
cooked  and  coffee  in  abundance,  we  made  such  a  meal  as  can 
be  made  only  by  half-starved  men  who  suddenly  have  come 
forth  from  the  dark  shadows  of  threatening  death  into  the  glad 
sunshine  of  safety. 

When,  at  last,  our  huge  meal  was  ended,  we  settled  back 
upon  our  blankets,  and  fell  to  smoking.  Presently  Rayburn 
gave  a  prodigious  yawn  and  laid  aside  his  pipe.  "I  think  I'll 
take  a  nap,"  he  said.  I  saw  that  Young  already  was  nodding 
and  that  Pablo  had  sunk  down  into  slumber;  while  El  Sabio,  who 
had  come  even  closer  to  starving  than  we  had  come,  most  thank 
fully  rummaged  among  the  rich  grass.  My  eyes  were  heavy,  and 
I  stretched  myself  out  on  my  blankets,  with  the  warm  sunshine 
comforting  my  stiffened  body,  and  presently  sunk  softly  into 
delicious  sleep. 

It  was  well  on  in  the  afternoon  when  we  all  woke  again ;  and 
Young's  first  remark  was  that  it  must  be  about  supper-time. 
We  made  a  supper  almost  as  hearty  as  our  breakfast  had  been, 
and  in  a  little  while  went  off  once  more  to  sleep,  and  slept 
through  until  sunrise  of  the  following  day.  In  truth,  the  men 
tal  strain,  bred  of  our  gloomy  surroundings  and  of  the  dread  of 
starvation  that  had  possessed  us,  had  taxed  our  physical  strength 


n8        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

more  severely  than  our  mountain  climbing  and  our  lack  of  nour 
ishment. 

When  we  woke  again  on  the  second  morning,  we  all  were 
fresh  and  strong  and  eager  to  press  onward.  There  was  little 
left  of  the  sheep  to  carry  with  us;  but  Rayburn  shot  half  a 
dozen  birds,  some  species  of  duck,  as  we  skirted  the  lake  in  our 
passage  across  the  valley,  so  there  was  no  fear  that  we  should 
lack  for  food.  At  its  western  end  the  valley  narrowed  into  a 
canon.  There  was  no  choice  of  paths,  for  this  was  the  sole 
outlet,  and  we  were  assured  that  we  were  on  the  right  path  by 
finding  the  King's  symbol  and  the  pointing  arrow  curved  upon 
the  rock.  The  canon  descended  very  rapidly,  and  by  noon  we 
were  so  far  below  the  level  of  the  Mexican  plateau  that  the 
air  had  a  tropical  warmth  in  it;  and  so  warm  was  the  night — 
for  all  the  afternoon  we  continued  to  descend — that  we  had  no 
need  for  blankets  when  we  settled  ourselves  for  sleep. 

Rayburn  was  of  the  opinion  that  we  were  close  upon  the 
Tierra  Caliente,  the  hot  lands  of  the  coast;  and  when  we  re 
sumed  our  march  in  the  morning  he  went  on  in  advance  of  the 
rest  of  us,  that  he  might  maintain  a  cautious  outlook.  If  he 
were  right  in  his  conjecture  as  to  our  whereabouts,  we  might 
at  any  moment  come  upon  hostile  Indians.  It  was  towards  noon 
that  he  came  softly  back  to  us  and  bade  us  lay  down  our  packs 
and  advance  silently  with  him,  carrying  only  our  arms.  "There's 
something  queer  ahead;  and  I  thought  that  I  heard  voices,"  he 
explained.  "But  there  must  be  no  shooting  unless  we  are  shot 
at.  Some  of  these  Indians  are  friendly,  and  we  don't  want  to 
start  a  row  with  them  if  they  are  willing  not  to  row  with  us." 

The  canon  was  very  narrow  at  this  point,  and  high  above  us 
its  walls  drew  so  closely  together  that  the  shadows  about  us 
were  deep.  As  we  rounded  a  bend  in  it,  the  rock  closed  above 
our  heads  in  a  great  arch,  so  that  we  were  in  a  sort  of  natural 
tunnel;  at  the  far  end  of  which  was  a  bright  spot  showing  that 
a  wide  and  sunny  open  space  was  beyond.  But  over  this  open 
ing  were  bars  which  cut  sharply  against  the  light,  as  though  a  gi 
gantic  spider  had  spun  there  a  massive  web;  and  as  we  drew 
nearer  to  this  curious  barrier  we  saw  beyond  it  a  broad  and 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        119 

glorious  valley,  rich  with  all  manner  of  luxuriant  tropical  growth 
and  flooded  everywhere  with  the  warm  light  of  the  sun. 

We  approached  the  strange  barrier  cautiously,  and  our  wonder 
at  it  was  increased  as  we  found  that  it  was  made  of  the  bright 
metal  of  which  we  had  found  so  many  specimens;  and  still  more 
we  wondered  as  we  found  that  the  bars  were  fastened  on  the 
side  from  which  we  approached,  so  that  we  could  remove  them 
easily,  while  from  the  side  of  the  valley  they  presented  an  im 
passable  barrier.  In  strange  excitement  we  drew  out  the  metal 
pins  which  dropped  into  slots  cut  in  the  rock  and  so  held  the  bars 
fast,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we  had  cleared  the  way  for  our 
advance.  Just  as  we  were  making  ready  to  pass  through  the 
opening  we  heard  the  sound  of  voices;  and  als  we  quickly  drew 
back  into  the  shadows  two  men  sprang  up  suddenly  before  us, 
and  cried  in  wonder  as  they  saw  that  the  lower  bars  across  the 
opening  were  gone.  Yet  the  expression  upon  their  faces  was 
not  that  of  anger ;  rather  did  they  seem  to  be  stirred  by  a  strong 
feeling  of  joy  with  which  was  also  awe.  Both  men  were  ac 
coutred  in  the  fashion  which  the  pictured  records  show  was  usual 
with  the  Aztec  warriors,  and  one  of  them — as  was  indicated  by 
his  headdress  and  by  the  metal  corselet  that  he  wore — was  a 
chief ;  and  they  challenged  us  sharply,  yet  with  gladness  in  their 
tones,  in  the  Aztec  tongue. 

So  sudden  and  so  ringing  with  this  challenge,  and  so  startling 
was  the  uprising  of  the  men  before  us,  that  as  we  sprang  back 
into  the  shadow  we  instinctively  stood  ready  with  our  arms.  But 
Fray  Antonio,  not  having  any  intent  to  join  in  the  fight,  was 
cooler  than  the  rest  of  us,  and  instantly  perceived  that  fighting 
was  not  necessary.  Therefore  he  it  was  who  first  spoke  to 
these  strangers ;  and  his  first  word  to  them  was,  "Friends  1" 

Then  the  watchmen,  for  such  they  seemed  to  be,  spoke  eagerly 
together  for  a  moment,  and  pressed  to  the  opening  to  look  upon 
us;  yet  seeing  us  but  dimly  because  of  the  dark  shadows  which 
surrounded  us.  Pablo  was  closest  to  them,  and  I  marvelled  to 
see  how  like  them  he  was  in  look  and  in  air.  Him  they  first 
caught  sight  of,  and  as  they  saw  him  they  both  turned  from  the 
opening,  and,  as  though  calling  to  some  one  at  a  distance,  gave 
both  together  a  great  glad  shout.  Instantly,  at  some  little  dis- 


120        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

tance,  the  cry  was  repeated;  and  so  again  farther  on  and  yet 
farther,  with  ever  more  voices  joining  in  it;  so  that  it  swelled 
and  strengthened  into  a  great  roar  of  rejoicing  that  seemed 


"COME  FORTH  TO  US!      COME  FORTH  TO  Us!' 
HE  CRIED 

to  sweep  over  the  whole  of  the  valley  before  us,  and  to  fill  it 
everywhere  with  tumultuous  sounds  of  joy. 

As  though  the  duty  that  they  were  charged  with  had  been 
thus  accomplished,  the  men  turned  again  to  us,  and  he  of  the 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        121 

higher  rank,  speaking  the  Aztec  language,  yet  with  turns  and 
changes  in  that  tongue  which  were  strange  to  me,  eagerly  called 
to  us: 

"Come  forth  to  us!  Come  forth  to  us!"  he  cried.  "Now  is 
the  prophecy  of  old  fulfilled  and  the  watch  rewarded  that  our 
people  have  maintained  from  generation  to  generation  through 
twenty  cycles  here  at  the  grated  way!  Come  forth  to  us,  our 
brothers — who  bring  the  promised  message  from  our  lord  and 
king!" 

I  turned  to  Fray  Antonio  as  these  words  were  spoken,  and 
I  saw  in  his  face  that  which  made  me  confident  in  my  own  glad 
conviction  that  here  at  last  was  the  secret  place  for  which  so 
long,  and  through  such  perils,  we  had  sought.  Here  indeed 
had  we  found  the  hidden  people  of  whom  the  dying  Cacique  had 
spoken  and  of  whom  the  monk's  letter  had  told ;  the  strong  con 
tingent  of  the  ancient  Aztec  tribe  that  ages  since  the  wise  King 
Chaltzantzin  had  saved  apart,  that  when  their  strength  was 
needed  they  might  come  forth  to  ward  their  weaker  brethren 
against  conquest  by  a  foreign  foe.  And  the  great  happiness 
begotten  of  this  glad  discovery  filled  all  my  body  with  a  throb 
bing  joy. 

Yet  as  we  went  out  through  the  opening  that  we  had  made 
between  the  bars,  and  the  watchers  saw  us  fairly  in  the  sunlight, 
they  sprang  back  as  though  in  alarm.  Rayburn  met  this  demon 
stration  promptly  by  making  the  peace-sign — raising  aloft  the 
right  arm — that  is  common  to  all  North  American  Indians; 
and  after  a  moment  of  hesitation  the  chief  answered  to  this 
in  kind.  So  there  was  peace  between  us  as  we  advanced;  but 
it  seemed  to  me  that  their  regard  of  us  now  had  in  it  more 
of  wonder  and  less  of  awe. 


Chapter  XVII 


SO  UNEXPECTEDLY  had  we  come  upon  these  strangers, 
and  so  marvellous  was  the  finding  thus  of  the  hidden  tribe 
for  which  we  had  sought  so  long,  that  I  could  not  but  dread, 
as  we  advanced  towards  the  Aztec  warriors,  lest  I  should  wake 
suddenly  and  find  that  it  all  was  a  dream.  And  they,  also,  as 
it  seemed  to  me,  looked  upon  us  doubtingly,  and  with  some 
what  of  dread  in  their  regard,  as  though  uncertain  whether  we 
were  beings  from  another  world,  or  men  of  flesh  and  blood  like 
themselves. 

Not  until  we  were  close  upon  them  Hid  further  words — after 
that  first  challenge  and  answer — pass  between  us;  and  then  the 
elder  of  the  two,  still  making  the  peace-sign  with  his  raised 
right  hand,  and  speaking  with  a  trembling  in  his  voice,  as  though 
deep  emotion  moved  him,  called  to  us:  "Have  our  brothers 
need  of  our  strength?  Bring  ye  the  token  that  summons  us 
to  their  aid?" 

I  should  have  been  glad  just  then  for  opportunity  to  consult 
with  my  companions  as  to  what  answer  I  should  make  to  these 
questions,  for  I  perceived  that  our  position  was  a  very  critical 
one,  and  that  even  our  lives  might  depend  upon  the  wisdom  of 
my  reply.  For  a  moment  I  waited  in  the  hope  that  Fray  An 
tonio  would  make  answer;  but  as  he  remained  silent,  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but  that  I  should  take  the  hazard  upon  myself. 
Therefore,  bringing  forth  the  ancient  piece  of  gold  from  the 
snake-skin  bag — for  so  I  had  carried  it  constantly,  even  as  the 
Cacique  had  done  before  me,  and  others  before  him,  for  more 
than  three  hundred  years — I  held  it  towards  the  man  who  had 
spoken,  and  said,  firmly:  "Here  is  the  token  of  summons  left 
behind  him  by  Chaltzantzin;  but  we  come  not  to  call  you  forth 
to  battle,  but  to  bring  tidings  that  the  fate  which  that  wise  king 
and  prophet  foresaw  for  his  people,  long  since  was  fulfilled.  In 
the  time  appointed,  the  stranger  foemen  overcame  and  en 
slaved  your  brethren,  bringing  to  pass  that  which  Chaltzantzin 

122 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         123 

foretold;  and  the  message  that  then  was  sent  to  call  you  forth 
to  their  aid  reached  you  not,  because  even  the  wisdom  of  Chalt- 
zantzin  was  powerless  against  the  will  of  the  gods.  Yet  the 
gods  desired  not  to  destroy  your  brethren,  but  to  punish  them; 
and  their  punishment  now  is  at  an  end.  Once  more  are  they 
free,  and  once  more  is  their  ruler  a  wise  and  valiant  man  of  their 
own  race.  Therefore,  the  news  which  we  bring  you  is  not 
sorrowful,  but  glad." 

While  I  was  thus  speaking,  the  ringing  cries  which  at  the 
first  alarm  had  sounded  over  all  the  valley  grew  louder  and 
stronger;  but  as  yet  we  saw  only  the  two  men  who  at  the  first 
had  confronted  us — for  we  were  in  a  deep  recess  in  the  moun 
tain,  whence  the  ground  dropped  away  in  front,  so  that  the 
immediate  foreground  was  hid  from  us,  and  we  saw  only  some 
distant  meadows,  and  then  a  broad  lake,  and  over  this  more 
meadows  and  a  sweep  of  heavy  timber,  and  back  of  all  great 
mountains  rising  against  the  clear  blue  sky. 

But  as  my  speech  ended,  and  before  those  to  whom  it  was 
addressed  at  all  had  digested  the  wonder  of  it,  and  so  hesi 
tated  in  their  reply,  a  half-dozen  men  and  a  woman  or  two 
came  in  sight  in  the  narrow  way  before  us,  panting  after  their 
rapid  ascent  of  the  acclivity;  and  the  calls  of  others  pressing  up 
the  slope  behind  them  sounded  loudly,  and  in  a  very  little  while 
a  crowd  of  a  hundred  or  more  pressed  about  us,  all  gazing  at 
us  and  questioning  us  with  a  most  eager  surprise.  For  the  most 
part  these  seemed  to  be  laborers  from  the  near-by  fields;  for 
many  of  them  carried  agricultural  implements,  and  their  bare 
legs  and  arms  were  splashed  with  mud  and  were  grimy  of  the 
soil.  As  for  the  look  of  them,  save  that  the  flowing  garments 
of  cotton  cloth  which  the  women  wore  were  embroidered  in  a 
fanciful  fashion,  I  could  not  have  distinguished  these  people 
from  the  tallest  and  strongest  of  the  Indians  dwelling  in  the 
hot  lands  of  the  coast  about  Vera  Cruz.  The  men,  who  wore 
only  a  cloth  twisted  about  their  loins,  were  as  magnificent  fel 
lows  as  I  ever  saw.  Every  one  of  them  was  tall  and  straight, 
with  broad  shoulders  and  narrow  hips,  and  the  muscles  of  their 
arms  and  legs  stood  out  like  cords.  From  Pablo,  who  was  an 
unusually  tall  and  well-formed  lad,  they  differed  only  in  the 


124        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

color  of  their  skins — which  were  decidedly  darker  than  his,  as 
was  to  be  expected  in  the  case  of  men  dwelling  in  this  tropical 
region  at  the  level  of  the  sea. 

Towards  Pablo  these  people  manifested  a  familiar  curiosity 
quite  unlike  their  reverential  manner  towards  the  rest  of  us, 
who  so  obviously  were  not  of  their  own  race.  And  Pablo  was 
as  much  perplexed  by  their  questions  as  they  were  by  his  answers ; 
for  never  was  a  conversation  carried  on  so  hopelessly  at  cross- 
purposes.  Our  boy,  being  spoken  to  by  folk  who  obviously  were 
as  entirely  Mexicans  as  he  was  himself,  and  in  a  tongue  that 
practically  was  that  which  he  had  been  born  to — for  the  Indians 
dwelling  in  the  Guadalajara  suburb  of  Mexicalcingo,  being  the 
direct  descendants  of  a  pure  Aztec  stock,  speak  the  Nahua  lan 
guage  very  correctly — could  not  at  all  realize  that  he  was  at  last 
among  the  ancient  race  for  which  we  had  searched  so  long.  It 
was  his  belief  that  we  had  come  out,  in  accordance  with  Ray- 
burn's  forecast,  into  the  coast  country,  and  that  the  people 
around  him  were  the  ordinary  dwellers  in  the  hot  lands.  And 
the  Aztecs,  knowing  him  to  be  one  of  themselves,  no  doubt 
believed  that  he  knew  of  the  purpose  for  which  they  had  been  left 
to  dwell  apart,  and  so  plied  him  with  questions  concerning  their 
brethren  from  whom  through  long  ages  they  had  been  separated. 

As  their  talk  went  on,  getting  the  more  involved  with  every 
question  and  reply,  a  tendency  towards  ill-temper  began  to  de 
velop  itself  on  each  side ;  for  Pablo  considered  that  these  people, 
who  professed  to  be  ignorant  of  so  important  a  city  as  Gua 
dalajara,  were  making  game  of  him;  and  they  were  not  less 
disposed  to  believe  that  he  either  was  answering  them  falsely 
or  that  Tie  was  a  fool.  Fortunately,  before  any  harm  came 
of  these  misunderstandings,  an  interruption  brought  a  temporary 
end  to  their  talk. 

There  was  a  stir  among  the  crowd,  and  then  an  opening  was 
made  in  it,  through  which  came  an  elderly  man  wearing  military 
trappings  similar  to,  but  much  handsomer  than  those  worn  by 
the  two  warriors  whom  we  had  first  encountered;  and  it  was 
obvious,  from  the  air  of  deference  with  which  these  saluted  him, 
that  he  was  their  superior  officer.  In  spite  of  the  dignity  of  his 
demeanor  it  was  evident  that  he  was  greatly  excited  by  our 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         125 

advent,  and  his  voice  quivered  and  broke  a  little  as  he  asked  us 
who  we  were  and  whence  we  came.  As  I  repeated  what  I  had 
already  told  the  guard,  and  showed  the  gold  token,  the  expression 
upon  his  face  was  that  of  extreme  perplexity.  That  the  gold 
token  gave  us  a  strong  claim  upon  his  respect,  almost  upon  his 
reverence,  was  apparent  in  his  manner  as  I  showed  it  to  him; 
but  the  conditions  under  which  it  was  presented  obviously  ren 
dered  him  very  uncertain  as  to  what  action  was  proper  for  him 
to  take. 

When  I  had  finished  my  statement,  and  had  returned  the  token 
to  its  place  in  the  snake-skin  bag,  the  officer  turned  to  the  two 
warriors,  and  they  conversed  for  a  while  in  low  tones  apart 
from  us.  Of  their  talk  I  could  catch  only  a  few  words,  but 
several  times  I  heard  repeated  the  name  Itzacoatl,  and  frequent 
reference  was  made  to  the  Twenty  Lords.  I  gathered,  too,  that 
the  name  of  the  officer  was  Tizoc,  and  that  the  name  of  the  elder 
of  the  two  warriors,  a  swarthy  man,  was  Ixtlilton.  In  the  mean 
time,  out  of  respect  to  the  officer,  the  crowd  had  drawn  away 
from  us — being  now  swelled  to  very  considerable  numbers — but 
those  composing  it  gazed  at  us  in  wonder,  and  among  them  was 
a  steady  murmur  of  low  talk,  like  the  buzzing  of  a  hive  of  bees. 

When  his  conference  with  the  warriors  was  ended,  Tizoc 
approached  us,  and  with  him  came  a  younger  man,  who  carried 
a  roll  of  paper  in  his  hand.  The  face  of  the  officer  still  wore 
a  troubled,  doubting  expression,  and  these  feelings  were  ex 
pressed  also  in  the  tones  of  his  voice  as  he  spoke  to  us.  "For  the 
coming  of  the  token  from  our  lord  Chaltzantzin  we  who  dwell 
in  this  Valley  of  Aztlan  have  waited  through  many  ages,"  he 
said;  "but  the  promise  was  given  that  the  token  should  come  to 
us  from  our  brethren  in  the  time  of  their  need,  and  should  be 
brought  by  those  of  our  own  race.  But  you  tell  us  that  the 
time  of  need  long  since  is  past,  and  ye  who  bring  the  token  are  of 
a  race  that  is  strange  to  us ;  and  even  this  one  among  you  who 
seems  to  be  of  our  brethren  speaks  strangely  of  strange  things. 
Had  ye  come  in  the  way  that  long  past  was  promised,  there 
would  have  been  no  room  for  questioning  your  right  of  entry 
here  nor  your  authority  over  us ;  and  I,  who  am  the  Warden  of 
the  Pass — being  in  right  succession  from  him  whom  our  lord 


ia6        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

Chaltzantzin  appointed  to  this  high  office — would  have  been 
the  first  to  do  you  reverence  and  honor.  But  in  this  strange  case 
that  has  arisen  I  hold  it  to  be  my  duty  to  send  news  of  your 
coming  to  the  Priest  Captain,  Itzacoatl,  that  he  and  his  Council 
of  the  Twenty  Lords  may  decide  what  now  is  right  to  do.  In 
this  I  mean  no  disrespect  and  no  unkindness;  and  while  we  await 
the  Priest  Captain's  orders  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  to  offer  you 
that  rest  and  refreshment  of  which  you  stand  in  need." 

To  this  firm  but  courteous  speech  I  was  in  the  act  of  replying 
in  fit  terms  of  equal  courtesy  when  an  outburst  on  Young's  part 
interrupted  me. 

"Hold  on  there,  young  fellow !"  he  cried.  "I'll  be  shot  if  I'm 
goin'  t'  stand  bein'  made  a  fool  of  that  wayl  If  you  can't  make 
a  better  likeness  of  me  than  that,  you'd  better  shut  up  shop  an' 
go  out  of  th'  business." 

I  turned  quickly,  and  saw  Young  standing  beside  Tizoc's 
attendant,  and  looking  half  angrily  and  half  laughingly  at  the 
sheet  of  paper  that  he  held  in  his  hand.  Fearful  that  some  harm 
might  come  from  Young's  maladroitness,  I  joined  them  quickly; 
and  only  a  strong  sense  of  the  gravity  of  our  situation  restrained 
me  from  laughing  outright  as  I  beheld  the  cause  of  his  wrath. 
For  the  secretary,  as  I  now  perceived  him  to  be,  had  made 
sketches  in  color  of  each  member  of  our  party;  and  while  they 
all  did  violence  to  our  vanity,  that  of  Young — with  a  bald  head 
out  of  all  proportion  to  the  size  of  his  body,  and  with  most 
aggressively  red  hair — was  so  outrageous  a  caricature  that  there 
really  was  some  justice  in  his  resentment  of  it. 

But  this  was  not  a  time  when  resentment  could  be  safely  mani 
fested,  and  I  hurriedly  explained  to  Young  that  these  pictures, 
no  doubt,  were  to  be  transmitted  as  a  part  of  the  report  that 
Tizoc  was  about  to  make  to  the  King  concerning  us,  and  that  he 
must  find  no  fault  with  them. 

"He's  goin' t'  send  that  thing  t'  th'  King  an'  say  it's  me,  is  he  ? 
No,  he's  not — not  by  a  jugful!  See  here,  Professor!  here's  a 
photograph  that  I  had  taken  last  spring  in  Boston."  And  before 
I  could  stop  him,  Young  had  taken  the  photograph  out  of  his 
pocket-book  and  had  handed  it  to  the  secretary,  with  the  remark, 
"Just  say  t'  him,  Professor,  that  he  is  t'  give  that  t'  th'  King, 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        127 

an'  tell  him  t'  tell  th'  King  that  Mr.  Seth  Young,  of  Boston, 
sends  it  with  his  compliments." 

After  all,  no  harm  came  of  this  absurd  performance,  but 
rather  good ;  for  the  secretary  exhibited  the  photograph  to  Tizoc, 
and  both  of  them,  and  the  two  warriors  also,  were  lost  in  won 
der  at  its  marvellous  likeness  to  the  original,  and  evidently  held 
us  in  increasingly  great  respect  because  we  were  the  possessors 
of  such  an  extraordinary  work  of  art.  Young  was  a  good  deal 
chagrined,  however,  because  the  picture  of  him  that  the  secre 
tary  had  drawn  was  forwarded  as  a  part  of  Tizoc's  despatches. 
He  said  that  since  he  had  set  up  a  good  likeness  of  himself,  it 
wasn't  the  square  thing  to  send  the  King  a  bad  one. 

When  the  secretary,  bearing  the  despatches,  had  departed, 
Tizoc  requested  us  to  accompany  him  to  the  near-by  guard-house, 
where  we  could  refresh  ourselves  by  bathing,  and  where  food 
and  drink  would  be  provided  for  us.  A  detachment  of  men  from 
the  guard-house,  accoutred  in  the  same  handsome  fashion  as 
Ixtlilton  and  his  companion,  had  arrived  while  the  secretary's 
portrait-work  was  in  progress;  and  I  observed  that  all  of  these 
guardsmen  (excepting  only  Ixtlilton,  whose  skin  was  dark,) 
were  much  lighter  in  color  and  more  gracious  in  bearing  than 
the  men  in  the  crowd  around  us.  So  marked,  indeed,  was  this 
difference  that  they  seemed  scarcely  to  belong  to  the  same  race. 

As  we  moved  away  through  the  opening  that  the  crowd  made 
for  us,  with  a  platoon  of  guardsmen  in  advance,  and  another 
in  our  rear,  Pablo  touched  my  arm  and  was  about  to  speak  to 
me;  but  before  his  mouth  could  open  there  sounded  suddenly 
from  the  hollow  way  in  the  mountain  behind  us  a  mighty  bray. 
"Ah,  the  little  angel!"  Pablo  cried.  "Hearken  to  him,  senor, 
calling  to  me."  And  so  moved  was  Pablo  by  this  evidence  of 
El  Sabio's  affection  that  only  my  firm  grasp  upon  his  arm 
restrained  him  from  attempting  a  dash  through  the  guards  to 
where  the  creature  was  penned  in  by  the  metal  bars. 

Truly,  there  is  no  sound  more  terrifying  to  those  who  are 
strangers  to  it  than  the  braying  of  an  ass;  therefore,  I  was  not 
at  all  surprised  that  a  very  considerable  part  of  the  crowd  incon 
tinently  took  to  its  heels;  and  I  needed  no  better  evidence  of  the 
bravery  of  the  guardsmen  who  composed  our  escort  than  the 


128        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

steadiness  with  which  they  faced  about  in  readiness  to  meet  what 
ever  danger  might  come  forth  from  the  gap  in  the  mountain  in 
the  wake  of  this  great  roaring.  Yet  what  they  saw  there  was 
only  the  mild  face  of  the  Wise  One  extended  towards  us  through 
the  opening  in  the  bars. 

To  Tizoc,  who  was  standing  beside  me,  and  who  had  not 
displayed  even  the  slightest  tremor  of  alarm  as  the  appalling 
noise  had  broken  upon  us,  I  explained  that  the  roaring  creature 
was  not  harmful,  but  gentle  and  biddable;  and  I  begged  that 
other  of  the  bars  might  be  removed,  so  that  it  might  come  forth 
and  join  us.  He  acceded  instantly  to  my  request  and  the  truth 
of  my  words  was  made  manifest,  as  El  Sabio  came  instantly  to 
Pablo  and  received  his  caresses  with  every  sign  of  gentleness 
and  affection.  But  even  Tizoc  did  not  disguise  his  wonder 
upon  beholding  this  strange  beast,  for  the  largest  four-footed 
creature  in  all  that  valley,  as  he  told  me,  was  a  little  animal  of 
the  deer  species,  that  was  not  much  bigger  than  a  hare.  And 
when  I  bade  Pablo  mount  upon  El  Sabio's  back,  the  look  of 
surprise  in  Tizoc's  face  changed  suddenly  to  an  expression  of 
troubled  doubt,  in  which  was  also  alarm.  Under  his  breath  I 
heard  him  mutter,  "Can  it  be  that  the  prophecy  will  be  ful 
filled?"  But  whatever  the  cause  of  his  inward  disturbance  was, 
he  spoke  not  of  it,  but  turned  once  more  forward,  and  gave  the 
order  to  march. 

The  crowd,  seeing  that  no  harm  was  like  to  come  to  them, 
pressed  forward  once  more,  and  gazed  with  open-mouthed 
wonder — and  also,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  with  awe — at  the  prodi 
gious  spectacle  which  Pablo,  gravely  riding  upon  the  ass's  back, 
presented  to  them.  And  so,  with  the  guards  before  and  behind 
us,  we  marched  onward  into  the  Valley  of  Atzlan. 


Chapter  XVIII 

S  WE  emerged  from  the  nook  in  the  mountain-side  the  whole 
of  the  valley  lay  open  before  us,  and  never  was  a  more 
lovely  spot  beheld  by  the  eyes  of  man.  A  half-dozen  leagues  in 
front  of  us  rose  the  great  mountain  wall  which  shut  in  its  farther 
side,  and  about  as  far  away  to  the  right  and  to  the  left  these 
walls  swept  around  in  vast  curves  and  joined  the  cliffs  through 
which  we  had  come  by  the  hollow  way  that  tunnelled  beneath 
them.  A  noble  lake  extended  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the 
valley,  and  covered  near  a  third  of  its  width,  and  so  seemed 
less  like  a  lake  than  like  a  calm  and  majestic  river.  From  the 
water-side  the  land  rose  in  broad  terraces,  broken  by  belts  of 
timber  and  by  many  groups  of  smaller  trees,  which,  because  of 
the  regularity  of  their  growth,  I  took  to  be  fruit  plantations.  All 
the  open  country  seemed  to  be  one  vast  garden,  most  carefully 
tended,  and  everywhere  cut  up  by  little  canals,  whence  water  for 
irrigation  was  drawn.  Scattered  everywhere  about  the  valley 
were  single  houses  embowered  in  trees,  and  from  where  we  stood 
we  could  see  also  four  or  five  little  towns,  which  also  were 
plentifully  shaded.  And  on  the  lake  many  boats  were  passing, 
of  which  several  were  of  a  considerable  size,  and  were  fitted 
with  curiously  shaped  sails.  And  all  this  exquisite  tropical 
beauty  of  ample  water  and  luxuriant  foliage  shone  richly  beneath 
the  bright  splendor  of  a  deep  blue  tropical  sky. 

Yet  that  which  most  strongly  attracted  our  attention  was  not 
this  charming  display  of  the  manifold  excellencies  of  God's 
handiwork,  but  rather  a  wonderful  manifestation  of  the  handi 
work  of  man.  Over  against  us,  on  the  far  side  of  the  lake,  slant- 
ingwise  from  where  we  stood,  rose  a  mass  of  buildings  of  such 
vastness  and  such  majestic  design  that  at  the  first  glance  we  took 
it  to  be  one  of  the  square-topped  mountains  which  are  found 
not  uncommonly  in  this  portion  of  the  world.  Yet  in  a  moment 
we  perceived  that  what  we  saw  was  a  walled  city  built  upon  a 
great  promontory,  that  jutted  out  from  the  mountain-side ;  and 

129 


1 30        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

in  the  same  breath  Fray  Antonio  and  I  called  out  together,  "It  is 
the  city  of  Culhuacan!" 

As  we  uttered  this  name  Tizoc  turned  towards  us  quickly,  and 
with  a  startled,  troubled  look  upon  his  face.  "They  are  not  of 
our  race,"  he  said,  as  though  speaking  his  thoughts  aloud;  "yet 
the  sacred  name,  that  among  us  only  a  few  know,  is  known  to 
them!"  and  the  troubled  look  upon  his  face  deepened  as  we 
went  onward. 

The  way  by  which  we  descended  was  a  narrow  road  carried 
zigzag  down  the  cliff  and  at  short  intervals  along  its  course  this 
road  was  defended  by  walls  of  very  solid  masonry,  pierced  with 
openings  so  narrow  that  only  one  man  at  a  time  could  pass 
through  them.  That  the  walls  were  for  defence  was  shown 
by  the  piles  of  metal  bars  on  the  inner  side  of  each  opening — the 
side  towards  the  mountain — so  arranged  that  in  a  moment  they 
could  be  slipped  into  sockets  in  the  stonework,  thus  closing 
effectually  the  way. 

Perceiving  that  we  regarded  with  surprise  this  curious  system 
of  fortification,  Tizoc  explained:  "These  are  the  barriers  set 
up  against  the  Tlahuicos,  who,  heeding  not  the  order  given  of 
old  by  our  lord  Chaltzantzin,  have  striven  many  times  to  break 
forth  from  the  valley — for  among  these  men  there  are  many  of 
perverse  natures  and  evil  minds." 

In  tlahuico  I  recognized  a  Nahua  word  that  means  "men 
turned  towards  the  earth,"  but  what  its  meaning  might  be  in  the 
sense  in  which  Tizoc  employed  it  I  did  not  know.  I  should 
have  asked  for  further  explanation  but  as  I  was  about  to  speak 
we  passed  through  the  narrow  opening  in  a  wall  of  unusual 
height  and  strength,  and  so  came  into  a  charming  garden,  in  the 
midst  of  which  stood  a  large  house  well  built  of  stone.  Near 
the  exit  was  a  long,  low  building  that  I  took  to  be  a  guard-house. 

The  crowd  that  had  followed  behind  us  from  the  height  above 
went  on  across  the  plateau,  and  out  through  the  gate  beside  the 
guard-house — its  members  casting  many  curious  looks  at  us  as 
they  departed — and  the  guardsmen  who  had  formed  OUF  escort, 
at  an  order  from  Tizoc,  went  on  to  their  quarters.  But  Tizoc 
led  us  across  the  garden  to  the  large  house  that  stood  in  the 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         131 

midst  of  it,  and  there,  with  a  formal  courtesy,  bade  us  enter. 
This  was  his  home,  he  said,  and  we  were  his  welcome  guests. 

The  house  was  so  like  the  houses  ordinarily  found  in  Mexico 
that  we  had  no  feeling  of  strangeness  in  entering  it.  It  was 
built  of  stone  neatly  laid  in  cement;  was  but  a  single  story  in 
height,  and  enclosed  a  large  central  court,  in  the  midst  of  which 
a  fountain  sparkled,  surrounded  by  small  trees  and  shrubs  and 
beds  of  flowers.  All  of  the  rooms  opened  upon  this  central  court, 
and  in  the  outer  wall  the  only  opening  was  the  narrow  way  by 
which  we  had  entered — for  the  prompt  closing  of  which  there 
lay  in  readiness  a  pile  of  metal  bars.  The  flat  roof,  also  of  stone, 
was  reached  by  a  stone  stair-way  from  the  court,  and  had  about 
it  a  heavy  stone  parapet  that  was  pierced  with  narrow  slits 
through  which  javelins  and  arrows  could  be  discharged. 

A  buzzing  chatter  of  talk,  in  which  women's  voices  predomi 
nated,  ceased  suddenly  as  we  entered  the  court;  and  from  the 
swaying  and  twitching  of  the  curtains  hanging  in  the  front 
of  the  openings  leading  into  several  of  the  rooms,  we  inferred 
that  we  were  undergoing  a  keen  inspection.  In  response  to  a 
call  from  Tizoc,  some  men-servants  came  out  from  one  of  the 
rooms  and  received  his  order  to  prepare  food  for  us;  and  he 
then  led  us  to  a  large  room  in  a  corner  of  the  court  that  was 
arranged  very  delightfully  as  a  bath.  Here  was  a  great  stone 
tank,  twenty  feet  or  so  square,  and  with  a  slanting  bottom,  so 
that  the  depth  of  it  ranged  from  two  feet  to  nearly  five,  in 
which  was  fresh  running  water;  and  over  the  portion  of  the 
room  that  the  tank  occupied  there  was  no  roof  but  the  bright 
blue  sky.  On  the  stone  floor  were  beautifully  woven  mats,  and 
towels  of  cotton  cloth  hung  upon  pegs  driven  into  the  walls,  and 
in  earthen  bowls  were  fresh  pieces  of  a  saponaceous  root  that  I 
have  seen  the  like  of  in  use  among  the  Indians  of  New  Mexico. 
It  seemed  to  strike  Tizoc  as  odd  that  we  preferred  to  make 
use  of  the  bath  successively  rather  than  all  together;  but  he 
was  too  polite  a  man  to  interpose  any  objections  to  our  eccen 
tricities.  Pablo  only — coming  last  of  all  of  us — had  a  com 
panion  in  his  bathing  in  the  person  of  El  Sabio;  and  the  sleek 
ness  of  that  excellent  animal,  when  Pablo  had  brushed  carefully 
his  long  coat  when  his  bath  was  ended,  was  a  wonder  to  behold. 


1 32        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

Being  thus  refreshed,  we  heartily  welcomed  the  excellent  meal 
that  was  served  to  us  in  the  cool  shade  of  the  veranda  by  which 
the  court-yard  was  surrounded.  Our  eating  was  somewhat  in  the 
Roman  fashion,  for  the  table  was  a  broad  slab  of  stone,  raised 
but  a  little  from  the  ground,  and  around  it  we  reclined  upon 
mats,  with  cushions  woven  of  rushes  to  lean  upon.  The  food 
was  excellent — a  small  animal  of  the  deer  species,  but  no  larger 
than  a  hare,  roasted  whole;  birds  very  like  quails,  delicately 
broiled;  little  cakes  made  of  maize,  which  were  rather  like  the 
hoe-cakes  of  our  Southern  negroes  than  tortillas;  some  sort  of 
sweet  marmalade;  and  a  great  abundance  of  oranges,  mangoes, 
bananas,  and  other  fruits  common  to  the  hot  lands  of  Mexico. 
Only  water  was  served  with  the  meal,  but  at  the  end  of  it  a  small 
jar  of  some  sort  of  potent  liquor  was  brought,  very  cool,  and 
with  an  excellent  spicy  taste,  that  Tizoc  warned  us  must  be  taken 
but  sparingly. 

"Just  ask  th'  Colonel  if  he  minds  my  smokin'  a  pipe,  won't 
you,  Professor?"  Young  said,  when  our  meal  was  ended;  and 
I  made  the  request  general.  Tizoc,  to  my  surprise,  evidently 
did  not  at  all  understand  my  meaning;  but  perceiving  that  I 
asked  to  have  some  favor  granted,  he  courteously  gave  the  per 
mission  that  I  desired.  As  we  filled  our  pipes  he  watched  us 
curiously;  but  when  we  drew  out  our  matches  and  struck  fire 
by  what  seemed  to  him  but  the  turn  of  our  hands,  he  started 
to  his  feet  and  manifested  a  strange  excitement,  in  which  there 
seemed  to  be  less  of  alarm  than  of  awe.  His  voice  shook,  and 
his  whole  person  trembled,  as  he  asked,  "Are  ye  the  children 
of  Chac-Mool,  the  God  of  Fire,  and  therefore  the  chosen 
servants  of  Huitzilopochtli  the  Terrible,  that  ye  thus  can  do 
what  among  us  is  done  only  by  our  Priest  Captain  Itzacoatl?" 

Both  Fray  Antonio  and  I  heard  with  delight  this  utterance, 
that  in  a  moment  settled  the  long-disputed  question  as  to  whether 
or  not  Chac-Mool  was  an  idol,  and  settled  it,  also,  in  favor  of 
the  ingenious  hypothesis  presented  by  the  learned  Senor  Cha- 
vero.  As  well  as  this  was  possible  in  the  language  common  to  us 
— and  we  suddenly  realized  how  difficult  it  was  to  express  in  the 
Nahua  tongue  more  than  rudimentary  concepts  of  the  ideas  that 
we  sought  to  convey — we  explained  to  him  how  matches  were 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         133 

made;  and  illustrated  our  words  by  showing  him  how  fire  was 
induced  by  friction,  even  as  the  rubbing  of  two  pieces  of  wood 
together  produced  fire  also.  This  explanation  was  less  exact 
than  ingenious;  but  it  was  one  that  he  could  understand,  and  it 
had  the  effect  of  allaying  his  alarm  sufficiently  to  permit  him  to 
resume  his  seat,  when  he  at  once  drank  off  a  whole  bowlful  of 
the  strong,  spicy  liquor  at  a  draught.  Added  to  what  he  already 
had  inside  of  him,  this  draught  set  his  tongue  to  wagging,  and  he 
grew  bold  enough  to  take  a  match  in  his  hand.  But  even  in  his 
cups  he  manifested  a  certain  reverence  in  his  handling  of  it; 
and  presently,  from  a  little  bag  that  was  hung  about  his  neck, 
he  produced  the  burnt  remnant  of  a  match  that  he  compared 
with  it  critically.  "They  are  the  same?"  he  asked,  as  he  extended 
the  whole  match  and  the  fragment  together  towards  us  that 
we  might  examine  them. 

"They  are  the  same,"  Fray  Antonio  answered.  "Whence 
comes  the  one  that  you  guard  so  carefully?" 

"From  the  Priest  Captain — from  Itzacoatl.  With  such  things 
does  he  miraculously  set  burning  the  fire  of  sacrifice;  but  he 
does  not  speak  of  them  lightly,  as  you  do;  he  tells  us  that  they 
are  the  handiwork  of  the  Fire  God,  Chac-Mool;  and  when  the 
fire  of  sacrifice  is  kindled  he  gives  what  remains  of  them  as  high 
rewards  to  those  who  have  served  well  the  State  by  brave  acts 
or  honorable  deeds.  This  which  I  cherish  was  my  reward  for 
crushing  a  revolt  among  the  Tlahuicos." 

Fray  Antonio  and  I  exchanged  curious  glances,  for  the  con 
viction  was  forced  upon  us  both  that  the  Priest  Captain  of  whom 
Tizoc  spoke  must  either  have  invented  friction  matches,  or  that 
he  must  have  some  secret  channel  of  communication  with  the 
outside  world.  In  either  case  it  was  evident  that  he  must  be  a 
man  of  unusual  shrewdness;  and  it  also  was  evident  that  his  feel 
ing  towards  us — since  we  also  could  perform  a  miracle  that  he 
obviously  made  use  of  as  a  means  of  manifesting  his  divine  right 
to  rule — must  be  that  of  strong  hostility. 

To  Rayburn  and  Young,  who  had  observed  wonderingly 
Tizoc's  extraordinary  conduct,  I  rapidly  translated  what  he  had 
said;  and  explained  how  serious  our  situation  appeared  in  the 
light  of  this  new  development. 


i34        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

"Well,  it  certainly  is  cold  weather  for  this  Priest  Captain 
fellow,"  Young  commented,  "if  we've  got  hold  of  his  boss 
miracle;  and  I  guess  you're  about  right,  Professor — he'll  want  t' 
take  it  out  of  our  hides.  Just  poke  up  th'  Colonel  t'  telling  all 
he  knows  about  this  old  dodger.  Th'  Colonel's  got  his  tongue 
pretty  well  greased  just  now  with  his  own  prime  old  Bourbon — 
pass  me  that  jar,  Rayburn,  I  don't  mind  if  I  have  another 
whack  at  it  myself — and  we  may  get  something  out  of  him  that 
will  be  useful.  Try  it  on,  Professor,  any  way.  Here's  luck, 
gentlemen." 

That  Young's  tongue  also  was  a  little  greased,  as  he  put  it, 
by  this  very  agreeable  beverage  was  quite  evident;  but  his  wits 
were  sharpened  rather  than  dulled  by  the  drink,  and  his  present 
suggestion  evidently  was  a  very  good  one.  As  for  Tizoc,  his 
disposition  towards  us  obviously  was  most  soft  and  friendly; 
and  as  his  mind  slowly  absorbed  the  fact  that,  somehow  or  an 
other,  the  Priest  Captain  had  made  a  fool  of  him  with  a  miracle 
that  was  not  really  a  miracle  at  all,  his  choler  rose  in  a  manner 
most  favorable  to  our  purposes.  Yet  this  very  feeling  of  resentful 
anger  was  startling  evidence  of  the  menace  that  our  presence  was 
to  the  theocratic  ruler's  temporal  and  spiritual  power.  There 
fore  it  was  with  a  keen  curiosity  that  we  listened — and  Tizoc 
needed,  to  induce  him  to  talk  freely,  but  little  of  the  poking-up 
that  Young  had  suggested — to  what  was  told  us  concerning  the 
strange  people  among  whom  we  had  come  by  ways  so  perilous, 
and  of  their  chieftain,  the  Priest  Captain  Itzacoatl — with  whom, 
as  no  spirit  of  prophecy  was  needed  to  tell  us,  we  were  destined 
soon  to  engage  in  a  conflict  that  must  be  fought  out  to  the 
very  death. 


Chapter  XIX 

FOR  the  sake  of  brevity  I  shall  summarize  here  the  state 
ment  that  Tizoc  made  to  us,  and  for  the  sake  of  clearness 
I  shall  add  to  it  some  facts  of  minor  importance  which  came  to 
our  knowledge  later — thus  at  once  exhibiting  the  whole  of  the 
troublous  condition  of  affairs  that  stirred  dangerously  the  people 
dwelling  in  the  Valley  of  Atzlan  at  the  time  of  our  coming  among 
them. 

At  this  period  the  political  situation,  as  I  may  term  It,  was 
exceedingly  critical.  Three  powerful  factions  were  in  existence ; 
and  peace  was  preserved  only  by  the  generally  diffused  belief 
that  open  revolt,  on  the  part  of  either  one,  would  be  crushed 
instantly  by  a  temporary  coalition  of  the  other  two.  The  begin 
ning  of  this  unpleasantly  volcanic  condition  of  affairs  dated  back 
six  cycles — that  is  to  say,  a  little  more  than  three  hundred  years 
— and  was  the  direct  result  of  a  violation  of  the  law  set  forth 
by  the  wise  King  Chaltzantzin  when  the  colony  was  founded,  by 
which  it  was  ordained  that  all  among  the  Aztlanecas  who,  on 
coming  to  maturity,  were  weaklings  or  cripples,  should  be  put 
to  death. 

Being  once  suggested,  the  repeal  or  the  modification  of  this 
law  found  many  advocates.  And  so  it  came  to  pass,  through  the 
influence  of  these  diverse  elements  operating  together  towards 
a  common  end,  that  the  law  which  Chaltzantzin  had  promulgated 
was  set  aside,  and  a  law  was  made  that  embodied  the  provisions 
demanded  by  the  nobles  and  the  priests,  whereby  should  be 
created  a  new  social  class;  which  class,  because  of  the  infirmities 
of  those  composing  it,  received  the  name  of  Tlahuicos — "men 
turned  towards  the  earth."  Thereafter,  the  sickly  and  the  crip 
pled  were  not  slain  upon  reaching  maturity,  but  then  passed  out 
from  the  class  into  which  they  were  born  and  became  servitors. 
And  when  the  first  cycle  was  ended  after  the  making  of  this  new 
law,  and  thenceforward  every  year,  one  in  every  ten  among  the 
Tlahuicos  was  taken  by  lot  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  gods.  Other 


i34        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

"Well,  it  certainly  is  cold  weather  for  this  Priest  Captain 
fellow,"  Young  commented,  "if  we've  got  hold  of  his  boss 
miracle;  and  I  guess  you're  about  right,  Professor — he'll  want  t' 
take  it  out  of  our  hides.  Just  poke  up  th'  Colonel  t'  telling  all 
he  knows  about  this  old  dodger.  Th'  Colonel's  got  his  tongue 
pretty  well  greased  just  now  with  his  own  prime  old  Bourbon — 
pass  me  that  jar,  Rayburn,  I  don't  mind  if  I  have  another 
whack  at  it  myself — and  we  may  get  something  out  of  him  that 
will  be  useful.  Try  it  on,  Professor,  any  way.  Here's  luck, 
gentlemen." 

That  Young's  tongue  also  was  a  little  greased,  as  he  put  it, 
by  this  very  agreeable  beverage  was  quite  evident;  but  his  wits 
were  sharpened  rather  than  dulled  by  the  drink,  and  his  present 
suggestion  evidently  was  a  very  good  one.  As  for  Tizoc,  his 
disposition  towards  us  obviously  was  most  soft  and  friendly; 
and  as  his  mind  slowly  absorbed  the  fact  that,  somehow  or  an 
other,  the  Priest  Captain  had  made  a  fool  of  him  with  a  miracle 
that  was  not  really  a  miracle  at  all,  his  choler  rose  in  a  manner 
most  favorable  to  our  purposes.  Yet  this  very  feeling  of  resentful 
anger  was  startling  evidence  of  the  menace  that  our  presence  was 
to  the  theocratic  ruler's  temporal  and  spiritual  power.  There 
fore  it  was  with  a  keen  curiosity  that  we  listened — and  Tizoc 
needed,  to  induce  him  to  talk  freely,  but  little  of  the  poking-up 
that  Young  had  suggested — to  what  was  told  us  concerning  the 
strange  people  among  whom  we  had  come  by  ways  so  perilous, 
and  of  their  chieftain,  the  Priest  Captain  Itzacoatl — with  whom, 
as  no  spirit  of  prophecy  was  needed  to  tell  us,  we  were  destined 
soon  to  engage  in  a  conflict  that  must  be  fought  out  to  the 
very  death. 


Chapter  XIX 

FOR  the  sake  of  brevity  I  shall  summarize  here  the  state 
ment  that  Tizoc  made  to  us,  and  for  the  sake  of  clearness 
I  shall  add  to  it  some  facts  of  minor  importance  which  came  to 
our  knowledge  later — thus  at  once  exhibiting  the  whole  of  the 
troublous  condition  of  affairs  that  stirred  dangerously  the  people 
dwelling  in  the  Valley  of  Atzlan  at  the  time  of  our  coming  among 
them. 

At  this  period  the  political  situation,  as  I  may  term  It,  was 
exceedingly  critical.  Three  powerful  factions  were  in  existence ; 
and  peace  was  preserved  only  by  the  generally  diffused  belief 
that  open  revolt,  on  the  part  of  either  one,  would  be  crushed 
instantly  by  a  temporary  coalition  of  the  other  two.  The  begin 
ning  of  this  unpleasantly  volcanic  condition  of  affairs  dated  back 
six  cycles — that  is  to  say,  a  little  more  than  three  hundred  years 
— and  was  the  direct  result  of  a  violation  of  the  law  set  forth 
by  the  wise  King  Chaltzantzin  when  the  colony  was  founded,  by 
which  it  was  ordained  that  all  among  the  Aztlanecas  who,  on 
coming  to  maturity,  were  weaklings  or  cripples,  should  be  put 
to  death. 

Being  once  suggested,  the  repeal  or  the  modification  of  this 
law  found  many  advocates.  And  so  it  came  to  pass,  through  the 
influence  of  these  diverse  elements  operating  together  towards 
a  common  end,  that  the  law  which  Chaltzantzin  had  promulgated 
was  set  aside,  and  a  law  was  made  that  embodied  the  provisions 
demanded  by  the  nobles  and  the  priests,  whereby  should  be 
created  a  new  social  class;  which  class,  because  of  the  infirmities 
of  those  composing  it,  received  the  name  of  Tlahuicos — "men 
turned  towards  the  earth."  Thereafter,  the  sickly  and  the  crip 
pled  were  not  slain  upon  reaching  maturity,  but  then  passed  out 
from  the  class  into  which  they  were  born  and  became  servitors. 
And  when  the  first  cycle  was  ended  after  the  making  of  this  new 
law,  and  thenceforward  every  year,  one  in  every  ten  among  the 
Tlahuicos  was  taken  by  lot  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  gods.  Other 


138        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

it  was  that  the  despised  Tlahuicos  actually  held  the  balance  of 
power. 

But  the  bond  that  was  stronger  than  all  others  in  holding 
together  this  community,  in  which,  beneath  the  surface,  were 
working  such  potent  elements  of  disintegration,  was  the  loyal 
resolve  pervading  it  to  execute  the  mission  to  which  its  members 
were  destined  when  they  were  set  apart  from  the  remainder 
of  their  race  a  thousand  years  before.  Excepting  only  among 
the  Tlahuicos — who,  in  the  nature  of  things,  could  have  no  share 
in  it — there  had  ever  been  among  all  classes  a  fervent  longing  for 
the  summons  that  should  call  them  forth  to  aid  their  brethren 
in  the  battling  with  a  foreign  foe  that  Chaltzantzin  had  proph 
esied.  And  by  reason  of  this  loyalty  to  a  lofty  purpose  the  open 
rupture  that  assuredly  otherwise  would  have  come  had  been  thus 
far  restrained. 

It  was  therefore  with  a  profound  and  solemn  interest — for  the 
grave  import  of  it  was  plain  to  him — that  Tizoc,  having  ended 
his  own  statement,  questioned  us  as  to  the  full  meaning  of  the 
words  which  we  had  spoken  when  first  we  entered  the  valley. 

With  awe,  and  in  sorrowful  silence,  he  listened  as  Fray  An 
tonio  and  I  told  him  how  exactly  the  prophecy  had  been  verified 
by  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards,  and  by  their  conquest  and  en 
slavement  of  the  Mexicans;  yet  was  he  cheered  again  as  our 
narrative  continued,  and  he  learned  of  the  brave  fight  for  free 
dom  that  his  brethren  had  made,  and  of  the  happy  success  that 
had  crowned  it  in  the  end. 

To  that  part  of  our  narrative  in  which  we  told  how  we  had 
gained  knowledge  of  the  hidden  city  of  Colhuacan,  and  pos 
session  of  the  token  of  summons,  Tizoc  gave  but  little  heed. 
Seeing  which,  we  left  him  to  his  own  thoughts  while  we  talked 
of  these  same  matters  among  ourselves. 

Rayburn,  in  his  quick,  clear-headed  way,  grasped  the  situation 
promptly  and  accurately.  "About  the  size  of  it  is,"  he  said, 
"that  we've  knocked  the  false  work  right  from  under  everything 
that  these  folks  have  been  building  for  the  whole  thousand 
years  that  they  have  been  living  here;  and  what  they've  built 
isn't  strong  enough  to  stand  alone.  Unless  I  am  very  much 


139 

mistaken,  we  shall  see  some  pretty  lively  times  in  this  valley 
inside  of  the  next  thirty  days." 

"And  unless  I'm  mistaken,"  Young  struck  in,  "th*  Colonel  here 
will  be  about  th'  first  man  t'  take  off  his  coat — that  is,  th'  thing 
that  I  suppose  he  thinks  is  a  coat — an'  sail  in.  I  don't  know 
just  what  he's  got  against  th'  Priest  Captain,  except  that  he  seems 
t'  be  a  sort  of  pill  on  gen'ral  principles,  but  I'm  sure  that  he's 
down  on  him  from  th'  word  go.  From  what  th'  Colonel  says,  I 
judge  that  his  crowd  has  a  pretty  good  chance  of  comin'  out  on 
top — for  th'  other  crowd  seems  t'  be  made  up  for  th'  most  part 
of  parsons;  an'  parsons,  as  a  rule,  haven't  much  fight  in  'em. 
What  we'd  better  do  is  t'  tie  t'  th'  Colonel,  an'  when  we've 
helped  him  an'  his  friends  t'  wallop  th'  other  fellows  they'll  be 
so  much  obliged  to  us  that  they'll  let  us  bag  all  th'  treasure  we 
want  an'  clear  out.  An'  that  reminds  me,  Professor — we  haven't 
heard  anything  about  any  treasure  so  far.  Just  ask  th'  Colonel 
if  there  really  is  one.  If  there  isn't,  I  vote  for  pullin'  out  before 
th'  row  begins.  It's  as  true  of  a  fight  as  it  is  of  a  railroad — that 
runnin'  it  just  for  th'  operatin'  expenses  don't  pay." 

Tizoc  answered  my  question  on  this  head  somewhat  absently, 
for  he  evidently  was  debating  within  himself  some  very  serious 
matter;  but  his  answer  was  of  a  sort  that  Young  found  entirely 
satisfactory.  In  the  heart  of  the  city,  he  said,  was  the  Treasure- 
house  that  Chaltzantzin  had  builded  there;  and  within  it  the 
treasure  remained  that  Chaltzantzin  had  stored  away.  What  it 
consisted  of,  nor  the  value  of  it,  he  could  not  tell.  The  Treasure- 
house  was  also  the  Great  Temple;  and  of  the  treasure  only  the 
Priest  Captain  had  accurate  knowledge.  In  the  Treasure-house, 
Tizoc  added,  was  stored  the  tribute  that  the  people  paid  annu 
ally,  and  the  metal  that  was  taken  from  the  great  mine.  This 
metal  was  the  most  precious  of  all  their  possessions,  he  said,  for 
from  it  their  arms  were  made,  and  also  their  tools  for  tilling  the 
earth,  and  for  working  wood  and  stone.  It  had  not  always  been 
of  such  value,  for  it  naturally  was  too  soft  to  serve  these  useful 
purposes;  but  at  a  remote  period,  until  which  time  their  imple 
ments  had  been  made  of  stone,  a  wise  man  among  them  had 
discovered  a  way  by  which  it  could  be  hardened,  and  from  that 


HO        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

time  onward  the  people  dwelling  in  the  valley  had  prospered 
greatly,  because  they  thus  were  enabled  to  practise  all  manner 
of  useful  arts. 

"And  what  is  this  metal  like  ?"  I  asked,  with  much  interest. 

"It  is  like  this,"  Tizoc  answered,  simply,  disengaging  as  he 
spoke  a  heavy  bracelet  from  his  arm,  "only  this  remains  in  its 
natural  state  of  softness.  To  be  of  great  value  it  first  must  be 
made  hard." 

I  had  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind  as  to  what  this  metal  was, 
but  I  knew  that  Rayburn,  who  was  an  excellent  metallurgist, 
could  pronounce  upon  it  authoritatively. 

"Is  this  gold?"  I  asked,  handing  him  the  bracelet. 

"Certainly  it  is,"  he  answered,  in  a  moment — "and  it  seems 
to  be  entirely  without  alloy." 

"Then  your  guess  about  the  bright,  hard  metal  that  has  been 
such  a  puzzle  to  us,"  I  continued,  "was  the  right  one;  it  is  hard 
ened  gold"  :  and  I  repeated  to  him  what  Tizoc  had  told  me. 

Rayburn  was  deeply  interested.  "Scientifically,  this  is  a  big 
thing,  Professor,"  he  said.  "These  fellows  can  give  points  to 
our  metallurgists.  Ask  the  Colonel  what  the  whole  process  is, 
Professor.  It  will  make  a  capital  paper  to  read  before  the 
Institute  of  Mining  Engineers  at  their  next  meeting." 

As  I  turned  to  Tizoc  to  ask  this  question,  I  perceived  that 
his  regard  was  fixed  upon  something  on  the  other  side  of  the 
court-yard,  and  in  his  look  most  tender  love  was  blended  with  a 
deep  melancholy.  Following  the  direction  of  his  gaze,  I  saw 
that  its  object  was  a  beautiful  boy,  a  lad  of  twelve  or  fourteen 
years  old,  who  was  half  hidden  behind  some  flowering  shrubs, 
and  from  this  cover  was  peering  at  us  curiously. 

tflt  is  my  Maza — my  little  son,"  Tizoc  said,  as  he  turned 
and  saw  the  direction  in  which  I  looked.  And  then  he  called 
to  the  boy  to  come  to  him.  For  a  moment  Maza  hesitated,  but 
when  the  call  was  repeated  he  came  out  from  behind  the  screen 
of  flowers  and  so  towards  us  across  the  court-yard;  and  as  he 
advanced  I  perceived  that  he  was  lame.  In  a  moment  I  under 
stood  why  it  was  that  Tizoc  resented  so  bitterly  the  abrogation 
by  the  Priest  Captain  of  the  custom  that  had  permitted  parents 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         141 

to  buy  back  their  crippled  children,  and  so  to  save  them  from 
slavery;  and  a  selfish  feeling  of  gladness  came  into  my  heart  as 
this  light  dawned  upon  me — for  I  knew  that  when  we  faced 
the  danger  that  threatened  us  we  surely  would  find  in  Tizoc 
an  ally  and  a  friend. 


Chapter  XX 

was  so  much  meaning  in  my  look  as  I  turned  towards 
JL  Tizoc  that  I  had  no  need  to  speak;  he  knew  that  I  had 
comprehended  the  situation,  and  so  answered  my  look  in  words. 

"Do  you  wonder  that  I  rejoice  over  your  coming,  and  over 
the  news  which  you  bring?  The  will  of  the  gods  no  longer  is 
that  we  shall  do  the  work  for  which  our  lord  Chaltzantzin 
destined  us.  To  my  boy  neither  slavery  nor  death  shall  come. 
Through  you  the  gods  have  spoken,  and  he  is  saved.  And  now 
also  is  fulfilled  the  prophecy  that  of  ancient  times  was  spoken, 
that  with  the  coming  into  the  Valley  of  Aztlan  of  a  four-footed 
beast,  bearing  upon  its  back  a  man,  the  power  of  the  Priest 
Captain  should  end." 

Much  more,  doubtless,  Tizoc  would  have  said  to  us,  for  an 
exalted  emotion  stirred  him;  but  at  that  moment  there  was  the 
sound  of  hurrying  feet  in  the  outer  enclosure,  and  then  Tizoc's 
secretary  came  through  the  narrow  entrance  into  the  court-yard, 
followed  closely  by  a  detachment  of  the  guards.  The  secretary 
spoke  hurriedly  to  his  master,  apart  from  us,  and  from  his 
excited  manner  in  speaking,  and  from  the  anxious  look  upon  his 
master's  face  as  he  listened,  we  inferred  that  some  very  stirring 
matter  was  involved  in  the  communication  that  he  brought. 

For  a  few  moments  Tizoc  stood  in  silence,  his  head  bowed,  as 
though  engaged  in  earnest  thought.  Then  he  turned  to  us  and 
spoke.  "The  Priest  Captain  has  sent  his  order  that  you  shall 
be  brought  before  him,"  he  said,  "and  that  you  must  go  hence 
without  delay."  And  then  he  added,  taking  me  aside  and  speak 
ing  in  a  low  voice :  "There  is  great  commotion  already  in  the 
city,  for  the  soldiers  have  noised  abroad  the  news  which  you 
bring.  The  Council  of  the  Twenty  Lords  has  been  called  to 
gether,  and  I  am  told  that  a  messenger  from  the  Council  is  on 
his  way  hither.  That  my  order  to  take  you  to  the  city  in  such 
haste,  and  directly  to  the  Priest  Captain,  is  so  stringent,  I  cannot 
think  is  caused  by  his  desire  to  get  you  hen^e  before  the  mes- 

142 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         143 

senger  from  the  Council  shall  arrive.  His  purpose  towards  you 
surely  is  an  evil  one ;  but  fear  not — you  bring  a  message  of  free 
dom  and  deliverance  that  has  only  to  be  published  to  raise  around 
you  a  host  of  friends.  And  now  we  must  go." 

In  a  few  moments  we  had  quitted  Tizoc's  house,  our  order  of 
march  the  same  as  that  adopted  in  bringing  us  from  the 
Barred  Pass :  before  us  and  behind  us  were  detachments  of  the 
guards,  and  Tizoc  walked  with  us.  In  accordance  with  his  de 
sire,  that  he  expressed  to  me  in  a  cautious  whisper,  Pablo  rode 
upon  El  Sabio's  back. 

I  had  an  opportunity  now  to  tell  Rayburn  and  Young  of  what 
Tizoc  had  been  speaking  at  the  moment  when  the  summons 
from  the  Priest  Captain  came;  and  also  of  the  strong  personal 
reason  that  he  had  for  protecting  us. 

"I'm  not  at  all  surprised  to  hear  that  what  we've  told  'em  is 
going  to  start  a  revolution,"  Rayburn  said.  "That's  just  the 
way  I  sized  the  matter  up,  you  know,  as  soon  as  I  got  down  to 
the  first  facts.  If  they'd  had  a  decent  sort  of  a  fellow  at  the 
head  of  things,  they  might  have  worked  along  so  as  to  take  a 
fresh  start  without  fighting  over  it.  But  this  Priest  Captain 
chap  isn't  that  kind.  He  goes  in  for  Boss  management  and 
machine  politics,  I  should  judge  from  what  the  Colonel  says, 
as  straight  as  if  he  was  a  New  York  alderman  or  the  chairman 
of  a  State  campaign  committee  in  Ohio.  There  must  be  a  lot 
of  fathers  with  crippled  children,  like  the  Colonel  here,  who  are 
down  on  the  Priest  Captain  the  worst  kind,  and  will  be  only  too 
glad  of  a  chance  to  go  for  him;  and  they  can  be  counted  on  to 
stand  in  with  us,  and  to  fight  harder  than  anybody.  I'll  admit, 
Professor,  that  we're  in  a  pretty  tight  place;  but  it  might  be  a 
good  deal  tighter,  and  I  do  honestly  believe  that  we'll  get  out 
of  it." 

"And  so  do  I,"  said  Young,  "  'specially  now  that  I  know  that 
that  burro  of  Pablo's  is  part  of  a  prophecy.  I  always  did  think 
that  there  was  style  about  El  Sabio,  anyway,  an'  now  I  know 
what  it  conies  from.  T'  be  sure,  this  prophecy  don't  come  down 
t'  dots  quite  as  much  as  I'd  like  it  to;  but  I  s'pose  that  that's  th' 
way  with  'em  always — eh,  Professor?  Th'  prophets  sort  o' 
leave  things  at  loose  ends  on  purpose;  so's  they  can  run  'wild* 


14$        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

on  a  clear  track,  without  any  bother  about  schedule  time  or  con 
nections." 

We  were  close  to  the  shore  of  the  lake  by  this  time,  and  as 
Young  spoke  we  were  passing  a  small  house,  in  front  of  which 
was  gathered  a  group  of  Indians.  In  the  midst  of  the  group  was 
a  very  old  man,  who  with  out-stretched  arm  was  pointing  towards 
Pablo  and  El  Sabio,  and  who  at  the  same  time  was  talking  to  his 
companions  in  grave  and  earnest  tones.  There  was  a  look  of 
awe  upon  his  age-worn  face,  and  as  we  fairly  came  abreast  of 
him  he  dropped  upon  his  knees  and  raised  his  arms  above  his 
head,  as  though  in  supplication  to  some  higher  power.  The 
action,  truly,  was  a  most  impressive  one ;  and  even  more  strongly 
than  we  were  affected  by  it  did  it  affect  those  who  were  clustered 
around  him.  In  a  moment  all  in  the  group  had  fallen  upon 
their  knees  and  had  raised  their  arms  upward;  and  then  a  low 
moaning,  that  presently  grew  louder  and  more  thrilling,  broke 
forth  among  them  as  they  gave  vent  to  the  feeling  of  awful  dread 
that  was  in  their  hearts. 

"That's  business,  that  is,"  Young  said,  in  tones  of  great  satis 
faction.  "Those  fellows  do  believe  in  th'  prophecy,  for  a  fact; 
and  if  th'  folks  once  get  it  fairly  into  their  heads  that  th'  time 
has  come  for  their  rascally  Priest  Captain  t'  have  an  upset,  that's 
a  good  long  start  for  our  side  towards  upsettin'  him." 

By  this  time  the  road  that  we  followed  had  come  down  to  the 
lake-level,  and  presently  we  reached  the  end  of  it,  which  was  a 
well-built  pier  that  extended  out  from  the  shelving  shore  into 
deep  water.  Here  a  boat  was  in  waiting  for  us — a  barge  of  near 
forty  feet  in  length,  with  twenty  men  to  row  it,  and  carrying  also 
a  mast,  stepped  well  forward,  so  rigged  as  to  spread  a  sail  that 
was  a  compromise  between  a  lug  and  a  lateen.  There  was  some 
little  talk  between  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  barge  and  Tizoc, 
and  then  the  latter  motioned  us  to  go  on  board.  The  barge- 
master  gave  the  order  to  the  guard  to  follow  us,  as  though  the 
command  of  the  party  now  had  devolved  upon  him;  and  it 
seemed  to  us,  from  the  close  group  that  the  guard  made  around 
us  in  the  boat,  and  from  the  anxious  looks  which  the  barge- 
master  cast  upon  us,  that  very  strict  orders  must  have  been  given 
concerning  keeping  us  closely  in  ward.  Under  these  circum- 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        145 

stances,  it  caused  us  some  little  wonder  that  we  were  permitted 
to  retain  our  arms,  until  the  thought  occurred  to  me  that  these 
people,  having  no  knowledge  of  such  things,  did  not  at  all  realize 
that  our  rifles  and  revolvers  were  arms  at  all.  To  test  which 
theory  I  drew  one  of  my  pistols — not  violently,  but  as  though 
this  were  something  that  I  was  doing  for  my  own  convenience — 
and  so  held  it  in  my  hands  that  the  muzzle  was  pointed  directly 
at  the  heart  of  the  soldier  who  sat  beside  me;  yet  beyond  the 
interest  that  its  odd  shape,  and  the  strange  metal  that  it  was 
made  of  aroused  in  him,  it  was  evident  that  the  man  regarded 
my  action  entirely  without  concern.  I  drew  the  attention  of 
Rayburn  and  Young  to  what  I  was  doing,  and  to  how  evident  it 
was  that  fire-arms  were  unknown  to  this  people;  and  in  their 
ignorance  we  found  much  cause  for  satisfaction. 

"If  they  don't  know  enough  to  corral  our  guns,"  Young  said, 
"we've  got  a  pretty  good-sized  piece  of  dead-wood  on  'em. 
Isn't  that  your  idea  of  it,  Rayburn?" 

But  Rayburn  did  not  answer,  for  while  Young  was  speaking 
he  had  taken  out  his  field-glass  and  was  examining  the  city,  to 
within  three  or  four  miles  of  which  we  now  were  come.  "Well, 
that  is  a  walled  city,  and  no  mistake  l'r  he  said,  as  he  lowered 
the  glass  from  his  eyes.  "Take  a  look,  Professor.  These  people 
may  be  easy  to  fool  when  it  comes  to  prophecies,  but  when  it 
comes  to  engineering  and  architecture  they're  sound  all  the  way 
through.  I  must  say  that  for  people  who  haven't  got  far  enough 
along  in  civilization  to  wear  trousers,  it's  an  uncommonly  pretty 
piece  of  work." 

As  I  looked  through  the  glass  I  was  less  impressed  by  this 
technical  detail,  involving  the  overcoming  of  engineering  diffi 
culties  which  I  did  not  very  thoroughly  understand,  than  I  was 
by  the  majestic  effect  produced  by  the  city  as  a  whole,  in  con 
junction  with  the  site  on  which  it  was  reared.  At  this  point  the 
lake  came  close  up  to  the  vastly  high  cliffs  by  which  the  valley 
everywhere  was  girt  in,  and  here  jutted  out  from  the  cliff  a  great 
promontory  of  rock,  whereof  the  highest  part  was  fully  two 
hundred  feet  above  the  lake-level.  For  the  accommodation  of 
the  houses  which  everywhere  were  built  upon  it,  the  sloping  face 
of  this  promontory  had  been  cut  into  broad  terraces,  of  which 


i46        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

the  facings  were  massive  walls  of  stone;  and  the  whole  was 
enclosed  by  a  wall  of  great  height  and  enormous  thickness  that 
swept  out  in  an  immense  semicircle  from  the  face  of  the  cliff,  and 
thus  shut  in  the  terraced  promontory  and  also  a  considerable 
area  of  level  land  at  the  base  of  it  between  the  lowest  terrace 
and  the  margin  of  the  lake. 

On  the  highest  terrace,  crowning  and  dominating  the  whole, 
was  a  majestic  building  that  seemed  to  be  half  temple  and 
half  fort — a  square  structure,  resting  solidly  against  the  face  of 
the  cliff,  and  thence  projecting  a  long  way  outward  to  where  its 
fagade  was  flanked  by  two  low,  heavy,  square  towers.  Archi 
tecturally,  this  building  was  pervaded  by  a  distinctly  Egyptian 
sentiment.  Its  walls  sloped  inward  from  their  bases,  and  no 
trivial  nor  fretful  lines  weakened  the  effect  of  their  massive 
dignity;  for  the  whole  of  the  decoration  upon  them  was  a  broad 
panelling  that  was  gained  by  a  combination  of  heavy  pilasters 
and  a  heavy  cornice ;  and  with- the  exception  of  a  central  entrance, 
the  front  was  unbroken  by  openings  of  any  kind.  There  was  no 
need  for  me  to  question  Tizoc;  for  I  knew  that  what  I  beheld 
before  me,  crowning  with  sombre  grandeur  this  strange  city, 
girded  with  such  prodigious  walls,  was  the  Treasure-house  that 
Chaltzantzin,  the  Aztec  King,  had  builded  in  the  dim  dawning 
of  a  most  ancient  past. 


Chapter  XXI 

kUR  use  in  turn  of  the  field-glass  was  a  mysterious  per 
formance  that  aroused  keenly  the  barge-master's  curiosity. 
I  heard  him  ask  Tizoc  for  an  explanation  of  it;  and  Tizoc,  who 
also  was  much  interested,  referred  his  question  to  me.  Had  I 
been  dealing  with  Tizoc  alone  I  should  have  tried  to  make  the 
matter  clear  to  him ;  but  in  the  case  of  the  barge-master,  whose 
feeling  towards  us,  I  was  convinced,  was  anything  but  friendly, 
I  thought  it  wiser  to  be  less  frank.  Therefore,  covering  the 
action  with  a  negligent  motion  of  my  hand,  I  screwed  the  glasses 
close  together,  so  that  in  looking  through  them  there  was  to  be 
seen  only  a  mass  of  indistinct  objects  looming  up  in  a  blurred 
cloud  of  light,  and  so  handed  them  to  him.  Naturally,  neither 
he  nor  Tizoc  arrived  at  any  very  satisfactory  conclusion  in 
regard  to  the  real  use  of  them;  and  from  their  talk  it  was  evi 
dent  that  they  conceived  the  ceremony  in  which  we  had  engaged 
in  turn  so  earnestly  to  be  in  the  nature  of  a  prayer  to  our  gods. 
Fray  Antonio  was  both  shocked  and  pained  by  their  taking 
this  view  of  the  matter,  and  was  for  making  a  true  explanation 
to  them;  but  at  my  urgent  request  he  held  his  peace.  Yet  it 
was  evident  that  he  brooded  over  the  matter  in  his  mind,  and 
so  was  led  to  earnest  thoughts  of  the  mission  that  had  brought 
him  hither  into  the  Valley  of  Aztlan.  Therefore  was  I  not  sur 
prised — though  I  certainly  was  alarmed  by  the  thought  of  what 
might  be  its  consequences — when  presently,  in  low  and  gentle 
tones,  he  began  to  speak  to  those  about  him  of  the  free  and 
glorious  Christian  faith,  which  in  all  ways  was  more  excellent 
than  the  cruel  idolatry  in  which  they  were  bound.  Naturally, 
he  was  not  permitted  long  to  speak  in  this  strain,  for  the  barge- 
master  speedily  ordered  him  in  most  peremptory  tones  to  keep 
silence ;  which  order  doubtless  would  have  been  still  more  quickly 
given  had  not  the  officer  been  fairly  surprised  by  Fray  Antonio's 
temerity  into  momentary  forgetfulness  of  the  dangerous  out 
come  of  this  gentle  talk.  And  Fray  Antonio,  knowing  the  value 

H7 


148        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

of  the  word  in  season  that  is  dropped  to  fructify  in  soil  ready 
for  it,  did  not  attempt  argument  with  the  barge-master,  but 
obeyed  the  order  meekly  and  so  held  his  peace.  That  what  he 
had  spoken  had  taken  hold  upon  the  hearts  of  some  at  least 
among  his  hearers  I  was  well  assured  by  their  grave  look  of 
thoughtfulness,  and  especially  did  Tizoc  seem  ;to  be  deeply 
moved;  but — as  I  supposed  for  fear  of  the  barge-master — there 
was  no  open  comment  upon  what  had  passed. 

By  this  time,  the  barge  being  all  the  while  urged  rapidly  for 
ward  by  the  steady  strokes  of  the  twenty  oarsmen,  the  city  rose 
so  broadly  and  so  openly  before  us  that  we  could  see  the  whole 
of  it  distinctly  with  our  naked  eyes.  And  what  at  this  nearer 
view  seemed  most  impressive  about  it  was  its  gloominess.  That 
it  was  indeed  a  stronghold  was  the  more  apparent  to  us  the 
nearer  that  we  came  to  it.  The  plan  of  it  was  that  of  a  great 
fan,  spread  open  upon  the  hillside,  and  extending  also  across  the 
broad  sweep  of  level  land  between  the  base  of  the  promontory 
and  the  lake.  The  promontory  had  been  transformed  into  six 
broad  semicircular  terraces,  above  the  highest  of  which  was  a 
semicircular  plateau  on  which  stood  the  Treasure-house,  that 
was  also  the  great  temple.  Along  the  face  of  each  terrace,  and 
around  the  face  also  of  the  plateau,  a  heavy  defensive  wall  rose 
to  a  height  of  twenty  feet  or  more;  and  from  the  base  of  the 
crowning  plateau,  twelve  streets  descended,  of  which  the  central 
six  ended  at  the  waterside  and  the  remainder  against  the  great 
outer  wall.  It  was  this  outer  line  of  strong  defence  that  gave 
the  city  its  most  distinctive  characteristic.  Such  a  vastly  thick 
wall,  for  the  great  length  of  it,  as  this  was  I  never  have  seen 
in  any  other  place;  and  so  solid  was  the  building  of  it  that  it 
would  have  been  proof  against  any  ordinary  train  of  siege 
artillery.  And  that  the  protection  that  it  gave  might  be  still 
more  complete  and  in  the  case  of  siege  the  water  supply  might 
be  assured,  together  with  a  supply  of  fish  for  food,  the  wall  was 
carried  out  into  the  lake  so  far  as  to  enclose  a  basin  of  more 
than  four  acres  in  extent;  within  which,  should  an  enemy  gain 
access  to  the  valley,  all  the  boats  upon  the  lake  could  be  brought 
together  and  held  in  safety.  And  finally,  the  one  entrance  to 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        149 

the  city  was  by  way  of  a  tunnel-like  canal  cut  in  the  wall;  the 
outer  end  of  which  was  closed  by  a  heavy  grating. 

It  was  towards  this  entrance  that  the  barge  that  carried  us 
was  heading.  Presently  we  reached  It,  and  the  grating  was 
raised  for  our  admission  by  means  of  chains  which  were  operated 
from  the  top  of  the  wall.  So  low  and  so  narrow  was  the 
passage  that  our  heads  were  within  a  few  inches  of  the  huge 
slabs  of  stone  of  which  its  roof  was  formed;  and  the  rowers  had 
need  to  unstep  the  mast  and  then  to  lay  their  oars  inboard,  while 
they  brought  the  barge  through  by  pushing  with  their  hands 
against  the  roof  and  sides.  The  canal  was  fully  forty  feet  long, 
and  thus  the  enormous  thickness  of  the  wall  was  made  apparent 
to  us. 

A  moment  later  we  emerged  from  the  tunnel  through  the  wall, 
and  so  entered  the  enclosed  basin  that  extended  along  the  whole 
of  the  city's  front.  Within  the  basin  were  lying  many  canoes, 
and  also  boats  of  a  larger  sort;  but  these  all  kept  away  from  us, 
even  as  all  the  boats  which  we  had  seen  during  our  passage  of  the 
lake  had  given  us  a  wide  berth.  That  our  barge — one  of  those 
employed  exclusively  in  the  Priest  Captain's  service — was  thus 
shunned  was  due,  as  I  found  later,  to  the  wholesome  dread  in 
which  the  special  servitors  of  the  temple  and  of  its  head  univer 
sally  were  held. 

But  even  dread  of  entanglement  with  the  Priest  Captain's 
servants  could  not  restrain  the  curiosity  of  the  crowd  that  pressed 
towards  us  on  the  broad  pier  upon  which  we  disembarked.  It 
was  evident  that  this  crowd  was  not  made  up  of  the  common  folk 
of  the  city,  but  for  the  most  part  these  men  were  citizens  of  the 
highest  rank;  and  this  fact  was  still  further  attested  by  the  dig 
nity  of  their  demeanor  and  by  the  reverent  age  to  which  the  ma 
jority  of  them  had  attained.  But  when  El  Sabio,  after  much 
coaxing,  crossed  the  gang-plank  between  the  boat  and  the  pier, 
and  so  came  to  where  he  could  be  seen  of  all  plainly,  there  was 
a  curious  low  sound  in  the  air  as  though  all  at  once  every  man 
in  the  crowd  had  heaved  a  sigh;  and  the  sound  swelled  into  a 
loud  murmur  as  Pablo,  in  obedience  to  a  quick  order  that  I  gave 
him  in  Spanish,  briskly  mounted  upon  the  ass's  back.  In  this 


150        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

murmur  only  one  word  was  intelligible,  and  that  I  caught  again 
and  again:  the  prophecy! 

But  Pablo  was  no  more  than  fairly  seated  upon  El  Sabio's 
back  than  the  officer  in  command  of  our  guard  took  him  roughly 
by  the  shoulders  and  snatched  him  thence  to  the  ground  again; 
which  act  led  Tizoc  and  me  to  a  quick  exchange  of  startled 
glances,  for  it  showed  very  plainly  that  the  Priest  Captain 
had  anticipated  this  sign  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  and 
had  given  orders  to  prevent  it.  Luckily,  the  celerity  with  which 
Pablo  had  executed  my  quick  order  to  mount  had  saved  the 
day  for  us;  and  even  more  than  saved  it,  for  as  we  passed 
through  the  crowd,  on  our  way  from  the  water-side  into  the 
city,  I  caught  here  and  there  fragments  of  comment  upon  what 
had  just  passed  which  showed  that  not  only  was  the  sign  told  of 
in  the  prophecy  recognized,  but  that  the  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  officer  to  neutralize  it  was  understood. 

But  before  our  going  into  the  city  there  was  a  stirring  con 
flict  of  authority  concerning  us  between  the  temporal  and  the 
spiritual  powers.  We  were  no  more  than  fairly  landed,  indeed, 
when  an  officer  addressed  the  barge-master,  who  continued  in 
charge  of  our  party,  and  gave  him  a  formal  order  to  bring  the 
strangers  directly  before  the  Council  of  the  Twenty  Lords.  And 
to  this  the  barge-master  replied  that  he  already  was  under 
orders  to  bring  the  prisoners,  immediately  upon  their  landing, 
before  the  Priest  Captain — and  there  was  something  both 
curious  and  ominous,  it  struck  me,  in  the  marked  manner  in 
which  the  term  "strangers"  was  employed  by  one  of  these  men 
and  the  term  "prisoners"  by  the  other. 

At  this  juncture  we  had  further  proof  of  the  foresight  of 
the  Priest  Captain,  and  of  the  determined  stand  that  he  was 
prepared  to  make  rather  than  to  suffer  the  miscarriage  of  his 
plans.  While  the  barge-master  and  the  messenger  from  the 
Council  still  were  engaged  in  hot  talk  there  was  a  sound  of 
tramping  feet  and  of  arms  clanking;  and  then  a  body  of  fully 
one  hundred  soldiers  came  quickly  out  from  behind  a  house 
that  was  near  by  the  water-side  and  swept  down  on  a  double- 
quick  to  where  we  were  standing  at  the  end  of  the  pier.  In  a 
moment  they  had  closed  in  around  us,  separating  us  from  the 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        151 

Council's  messenger  and  from  Tizoc;  the  barge-master  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  them,  and  in  sharp,  quick  tones  gave  the 
order  to  march.  Evidently  acting  under  orders,  the  men  broke 
their  platoons  and  closed  in  around  us;  and  I  was  well  con 
vinced  that  this  unsoldierly  marching  was  adopted  to  the  end 
that  El  Sabio  might  not  be  seen. 

Fray  Antonio  agreed  with  me  that  the  Priest  Captain  was 
carrying  matters  with  a  dangerously  high  hand  in  thus  opposing 
the  will  of  the  Council  with  armed  force. 

"If  this  old  scoundrel  is  as  sharp  as  he  seems  to  be,"  Ray- 
burn  said,  "and  if  he  keeps  things  up  in  the  way  he's  begun,  it's 
about  all  day  with  us.  His  play  should  be  to  get  rid  of  us  as 
quick  as  he  can  manage  it;  and  I  should  judge,  from  the  cards 
that  he's  put  down,  that  that's  precisely  the  way  he  means  to 
manage  the  game.  It's  not  much  comfort  to  us  to  know  that 
after  he's  cleaned  us  out  somebody  else  will  rake  his  pile." 

As  we  talked,  we  went  on  rapidly  through  the  city;  and  even 
the  danger  that  we  were  in,  and  the  excitement  that  attended 
this  sudden  shifting  of  our  fortunes,  could  not  prevent  me  from 
studying  with  a  lively  curiosity  the  many  evidences  of  an  ad 
vanced  civilization  tRat  I  beheld.  All  of  the  streets  were  well 
paved  with  large  smooth  blocks  of  stone,  and  were  led  up  the 
faces  of  the  terraces  by  wide  and  easy  stairs.  The  transverse 
streets  were  true  semicircles,  starting  from  and  ending  at  the 
face  of  the  cliff,  and  were  carried  along  the  outer  edges  of  the 
terraces,  just  inside  their  facing  walls. 

There  could  be  no  doubt  that  engineering  skill  of  a  high  or 
der — howsoever  crude  might  have  been  the  actual  method  of  its 
application — was  exhibited  both  in  the  preparation  of  the  site, 
and  then  in  the  city's  building.  In  the  preliminary  work,  as 
well  as  in  the  building  of  the  houses  afterwards,  fragments  of 
stone  were  used  of  such  enormous  size  that  the  moving  of 
them,  Rayburn  declared,  would  be  wellnigh  impossible  even 
with  the  most  powerful  engineering  appliances  of  our  own 
time.  Nor  was  the  use  of  these  huge  pieces  of  stone  confined 
to  the  foundations  of  the  houses.  Some  of  them  were  high 
above  the  ground;  indeed,  the  very  largest  that  we  observed  was 
a  single  block  that  made  the  entire  top  course  of  a  high  wall. 


;i52        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

All  of  the  stone-work  was  well  smoothed  and  squared;  and 
while  the  exteriors  of  the  houses  were  entirely  plain,  we  could 
see  through  the  open  door-ways  that  the  interiors  of  many  of 
them  were  enriched  with  carvings.  All  were  destitute  of  win 
dows  opening  upon  the  street;  and  their  dull,  black  walls,  and 
the  dull  black  of  the  stones  with  which  the  streets  were  paved, 
gave  a  dark  and  melancholy  air  to  the  city  that  oppressed  us 
even  more  heavily  when  thus  seen  closely  than  it  had  when  we 
beheld  it  from  afar  off.  Yet  the  interior  court-yards,  so  far  as 
we  could  tell  from  the  glimpses  that  we  had  of  them  through 
open  door-ways,  were  bright  with  sunshine  and  gay  with  flowers. 
I  observed  with  much  interest  that  the  provision  for  closing  the 
entrances  from  the  street  was  not  swinging  doors  of  wood,  but 
either  metal  bars,  such  as  we  had  seen  in  Tizoc's  house,  or  else 
a  metal  grating,  that  was  arranged  like  a  portcullis  to  slide  up 
and  down  in  a  groove;  and  I  attributed  the  absence  of  wooden 
doors  less  to  a  desire  for  stronger  barriers  than  to  the  compara 
tive  recentness  of  the  acquisition  of  the  knowledge  of  wood 
working  tools. 

As  for  Young,  the  sight  of  all  this  gold-work  quite  took  his 
breath  away.  "It  regularly  jolts  me,  Professor,"  he  said,  "t' 
see  th'  genuine  stuff,  that's  good  t'  make  gold  dollars  out  of, 
slung  around  this  way.  Why,  just  for  that  one  front  door  of  th' 
big  house  ahead  of  us  I'd  sell  out  all  my  shares  in  this  treasure- 
hunt,  an'  be  glad  t'  do  it.  But  I  guess  I'd  have  to  hire  Sam 
son — who  was  in  that  line  of  business — t'  carry  it  off  for  me. 
It  must  weigh  a  solid  ton!" 

By  this  time  we  had  mounted  all  of  the  terraces,  and  the 
house  towards  which  Young  pointed  as  he  spoke  was  built  di 
rectly  beneath  the  crowning  plateau  on  which  the  great  temple 
stood.  It  was  the  largest  and  by  far  the  most  elegant  house 
that  we  yet  had  seen,  and  the  sliding  grating  of  gold  that  closed 
the  entrance  was  unusually  heavy,  and  very  beautifully  wrought. 
Sentinels  were  stationed  here,  wearing  the  same  uniform  as  that 
of  the  soldiers  who  formed  our  guard;  and  this  further  indica 
tion  of  the  importance  of  the  building  gave  us  the  impression 
that  it  was  the  dwelling  of  some  great  dignitary.  Close  by  the 
portal  we  were  halted,  while  the  commander  of  our  guard  spoke 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         153 

through  the  grating  to  some  one  inside.  A  moment  later  the 
grating  was  slowly  raised,  and  we  were  marched  through  the 
narrow  entrance,  and  so  along  a  short  passage-way  into  a  long, 
narrow  chamber  that  obviously  was  a  guard-room;  for  spears 
and  javelins  were  ranged  in  orderly  fashion  upon  racks,  and 
swords  and  shields  and  bows  and  quivers  of  arrows  were  hung 
upon  the  walls.  Here  we  were  halted  again;  and  while  we 
stood  silent  together,  wondering  what  might  be  in  store  for 
us  in  this  place,  we  heard  the  heavy  grating  behind  us  close  with 
a  dull  clang. 


Chapter  XXII 

SO  DISMAL  was  this  sound,  and  so  many  were  the  dismal 
possibilities  that  it  suggested,  that  as  I  heard  it  a  cold 
chill  went  down  into  my  heart;  and  I  was  glad  enough  that  we 
at  once  were  led  forth  from  the  guard-room,  and  that  in  con 
sideration  of  matters  of  immediate  moment  my  mind  was  di 
verted  from  dwelling  drearily  upon  a  future  that  seemed  full 
of  gloom. 

For  all  the  brilliant  blaze  of  sunlight  that  brightened  the 
large  court-yard  into  which  we  were  conducted,  there  was  about 
it  a  curious  coldness  and  cheerlessness.  Here  there  were  no 
flowers,  nor  bright-colored  hangings  over  the  inner  doors,  nor 
brightness  of  any  sort.  From  the  centre  of  the  court-yard  a 
broad  stair-way  ascended  to  the  plateau  above  on  which  the 
temple  stood;  and  this  direct  way  of  communicating  with  it 
led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  the  building  was  a  dependency  of 
the  temple,  and  that  very  likely  the  higher  members  of  the 
priesthood  were  housed  here. 

However,  little  time  was  given  for  looking  around  us,  for 
our  guard  hurried  us — El  Sabio  following  close  at  Pablo's  heels 
— across  the  court-yard  to  a  door-way  at  its  farther  side,  before 
which  hung  in  heavy  folds  a  curtain  of  some  sort  of  thick  black 
cloth.  Across  this  entrance  the  guard  was  drawn  up  in  orderly 
ranks  behind  us;  and  then  the  barge-master  held  aside  the  cur 
tain  and  silently  motioned  to  us  to  enter. 

From  the  bright  sunshine  we  passed  at  a  step  into  a  cham 
ber  so  shadowy  that  we  involuntarily  stopped  on  the  threshold, 
in  order  that  our  eyes  might  become  accustomed  to  the  semi- 
darkness  before  we  advanced.  As  our  eyes  adjusted  themselves 
to  these  gloomy  conditions  we  perceived  that  we  were  in  a  hall 
of  great  size;  and  presently  we  were  able  to  distinguish  objects 
clearly  enough  to  see  that  at  the  far  end  of  it  was  a  raised  dais, 
having  a  sort  of  throne  upon  it;  but  not  until,  being  urged  for 
ward  by  the  officer,  we  had  traversed  more  than  half  the  length 

154 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         155 

of  the  hall  did  we  discern  upon  the  throne  the  shadowy  figure 
of  a  man. 

Being  come  close  to  the  dais,  the  officer  halted  us  by  a  ges 
ture  ;  but  no  word  was  spoken,  and  for  several  minutes  we  stood 
in  the  semi-darkness  of  that  strange  place  in  absolute  silence. 
For  myself,  I  must  confess  that  I  was  somewhat  awed  by  my 
surroundings,  and  by  the  impassive  silence  and  stillness  that  the 
dimly  seen  figure  upon  the  throne  maintained,  and  I  am  sure 
that  Fray  Antonio's  imaginative  nature  was  similarly  impressed; 
as  for  Pablo,  I  distinctly  heard  his  teeth  chattering  in  the  dark. 
But  neither  Rayburn  nor  Young,  as  the  latter  would  have  ex 
pressed  it,  awed  easily,  and  it  was  Rayburn  who  presently  spoke. 

"This  fellow  in  the  big  chair  would  "be  a  good  hand  at  pri 
vate  theatricals.  He's  got  a  first-rate  notion  of  stage  effect. 
Hadn't  I  better  stick  a  pin  in  him  and  wake  him  up?" 

"There's  no  good  in  stickin'  pins  into  him,"  said  Young,  in  a 
tone  of  great  contempt.  "What's  the  matter  with  him  is,  he's 
not  real  at  all — he's  stuffed!" 

There  was  something  so  absurdly  incongruous  in  these  com 
ments  that  they  acted  instantly  upon  my  overstrained  nerves, 
and  I  burst  into  a  laugh,  in  which  the  other  two  immediately 
joined.  Evidently,  this  was  not  at  all  the  effect  that  this  care 
fully  arranged  reception  was  intended  to  have  upon  us;  for  the 
seated  figure  started  suddenly  and  uttered  an  angry  exclamation, 
and  at  the  same  time  gave  a  quick  order  to  the  officer. 

"I  take  it  all  back,"  said  Young;  "he  ain't  stuffed.  I  guess 
he  was  only  asleep." 

As  Young  spoke  there  was  a  slight  rustle  of  draperies,  and 
in  a  moment  the  curtains  which  had  veiled  four  great  windows 
in  the  four  sides  of  the  hall  were  pulled  aside,  and  the  dark 
ness  vanished  in  a  sudden  blaze  of  light.  While  we  shaded  our 
eyes  for  some  seconds,  Rayburn  said,  with  great  decision:  "This 
settles  it.  He  must  have  been  in  the  show  business  all  his  life." 

But  the  man  whom  we  now  saw  clearly  did  not  look  like  a 
showman.  He  was  a  very  old  man,  lean  and  shrivelled;  his 
brown  skin  so  wrinkled  that  his  face  looked  like  some  sort  of 
curiously  withered  nut.  Yet  there  was  a  wonderful  sinewiness 
about  him,  and  a  most  extraordinary  brightness  in  his  eyes. 


156        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

His  dress  was  a  long,  flowing  robe  of  white  cotton  cloth,  caught 
over  his  left  shoulder  with  a  broad  gold  clasp,  and  richly  em 
broidered  with  shining  green  feathers ;  and  shining  green  feathers 
were  bound  into  his  hair  and  rose  above  his  head  in  a  tall 
plume.  His  sandal-moccasins  (for  the  covering  of  his  feet 
was  between  these  two)  repeated  the  sacred  combination  of 
colors,  green  and  white;  and  on  his  breast,  falling  from  his 
neck,  were  several  richly  wrought  gold  chains.  Even  apart 
from  his  stately  surroundings,  his  dress — and  especially  the 
shining  green  feathers  which  were  so  conspicuous  a  part  of  it 
— would  have  informed  me  that  this  man  was  a  priest  of  very 
exalted  rank;  and  the  conditions  of  our  presentation  to  him  as 
sured  me  that  he  was  none  other  than  the  Priest  Captain,  Itza- 
coatl.  And  I  may  add  that  if  ever  a  high  dignitary  of  a  heathen 
religion  was  in  a  rage,  Itzacoatl  was  in  a  rage  at  that  particular 
moment.  Young's  comment  lacked  reverence,  but  it  was  to 
the  point:  "Well,  he  has  got  his  back  up,  for  sure!" 

With  an  alertness  that  was  astonishing  in  one  of  his  years, 
Itzacoatl  rose  quickly  from  the  throne;  and  as  he  pointed  to 
us  with  a  commanding  gesture,  he  asked,  sharply,  why  we  had 
been  allowed  to  retain  our  arms,  and  ordered  them  to  be  taken 
away  from  us;  which  order  troubled  us  greatly,  and  also  occa 
sioned  us  a  very  lively  surprise.  As  for  the  barge-master,  he 
evidently  was  vastly  puzzled  by  it;  for,  according  to  his  notions, 
we  were  not  armed.  He  did  not  venture  to  reply,  but  his  un 
certainty  as  to  the  duty  that  was  expected  of  him  was  apparent 
in  his  hopeless  look  of  entire  bewilderment.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  for  a  moment  the  Priest  Captain  was  slightly  confused,  as 
though  he  recognized  the  incongruity  between  his  own  knowledge 
in  this  matter  and  his  officer's  ignorance;  and  in  explaining  his 
order  he  took  occasion  to  refer  to  the  superior  knowledge  with 
which  he  was  endowed  by  the  gods.  Fray  Antonio  and  I  glanced 
at  each  other  doubtingly  as  he  spoke,  for  this  explanation  struck 
us  as  being  decidedly  forced.  The  gods  of  the  ancient  Mexicans 
pre-eminently  were  war  gods;  but  they  certainly  were  not  likely 
to  have  any  very  extended  knowledge  of  Winchester  rifles  and 
self-cocking  revolvers. 

However,  when  the  officer  comprehended  what  was  required 


AS    HE    POINTED   TO    US    WITH    A    COMMANDING    GESTURE,    HE    ASKED, 
SHARPLY,  WHY  WE   HAD  BEEN  ALLOWED  TO  RETAIN  OUR  ARMS 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         157 

of  him,  he  was  prompt  enough  in  his  actions.  Without  any 
ceremony  at  all  he  laid  hands  on  Young's  rifle,  that  was  hang 
ing  by  its  strap  on  his  shoulder,  and  endeavored  to  take  it  away 
from  him.  This  was  a  line  of  action  that  the  Lost-freight 
Agent  by  no  means  was  inclined  to  submit  to.  Without  any  as 
sistance  he  unslung  the  rifle,  cocked  it  as  he  jumped  back  half 
a  dozen  steps,  and  then  raised  it  to  his  shoulder,  with  his 
finger  on  the  trigger  and  the  muzzle  fairly  levelled  at  the  offi 
cer's  heart.  "Shall  I  down  him?"  he  asked. 

"Don't  shoot!"  Rayburn  cried,  quickly;  and  in  obedience  to 
this  order  Young  slowly  dropped  the  rifle  from  his  shoulder,  yet 
held  it  ready  for  action  in  his  hands.  The  perfect  calmness  of 
the  officer  through  this  exciting  episode  afforded  the  most  con 
vincing  proof  that  fire-arms  were  wholly  unknown  to  him.  And 
the  conduct  of  the  Priest  Captain  afforded  equally  convincing 
proof  that  he  not  only  understood  the  nature  of  fire-arms,  but 
that  he  was  very  much  afraid  of  them;  for,  at  the  moment  that 
Young  made  his  offensive  demonstration,  he  very  precipitately 
sheltered  himself  by  crouching  behind  the  throne. 

"Don't  shoot!"  Rayburn  repeated.  "We  may  have  a  chance 
to  pull  through  if  we  don't  rile  these  fellows;  but  if  we  go  to 
killing  any  of  them  now  it's  all  day  with  us,  for  sure.  We'd 
better  let  'em  have  our  guns;  but  there's  something  mighty 
odd  in  their  having  found  out  all  of  a  sudden  what  a  gun  is." 

Very  reluctantly  Young  surrendered  his  rifle  to  the  officer, 
who  looked  at  it  contemptuously,  as  though  he  considered  it 
but  a  poor  sort  of  weapon  in  case  real  fighting  was  to  be  done. 
In  turn,  the  rest  of  us  gave  up  our  rifles  also;  and  we  were 
mightily  pleased  because  the  officer  did  not  attempt  to  take  out 
revolvers  away  from  us.  But  in  this  our  satisfaction  was  short 
lived,  for  the  Priest  Captain  quickly  ordered  the  officer  to  relieve 
us  of  them,  and  of  our  cartridge-belts  as  well;  nor  was  it  until 
we  had  been  thus  entirely  disarmed  that  he  arose  from  his  undig 
nified  position  and  resumed  his  seat  upon  the  throne. 

While  the  disagreeable  process  of  disarming  us  was  going  on 
I  spoke  to  Fray  Antonio  of  the  curious  possibilities  suggested 
by  the  knowledge  of  fire-arms  which  the  Priest  Captain,  alone 
among  all  the  Aztlanecas,  so  obviously  possessed;  and  he,  in 


158        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

reply,  bade  me  remember  what  Tizoc  had  told  us  of  the  use  that 
Itzacoatl  made  of  wax-matches  in  lighting  the  sacred  fire.  "Can 
it  possibly  be,  then,  that  he  is  in  communication  with  the  out 
side  world?"  I  exclaimed. 

As  I  muttered  these  words  I  glanced  at  Itzacoatl,  and  the 
expression  on  his  face  was  that  of  one  who  listens  intently,  and 
who  is  greatly  enraged  by  what  he  hears.  At  the  same  moment 
Rayburn  cried:  "That  man  understands  Spanish.  He  is  lis 
tening  to  you." 

Doubtless,  some  sort  of  an  explanation  would  have  followed 
this  strange  discovery,  for  that  we  had  made  it  was  very  ob 
vious,  but  at  that  moment  a  man — seemingly,  from  his  dress,  a 
priest  of  high  rank — came  into  the  hall  hurriedly,  and  very 
earnestly  delivered  a  communication  to  Itzacoatl  in  low,  ex 
cited  tones.  That  the  substance  of  this  communication  was 
highly  disagreeable  to  him  was  shown  by  his  manner  of  re 
ceiving  it;  and  for  a  moment  he  slightly  hesitated,  as  though 
very  grave  consequences  might  attend  upon  the  decision  that 
he  then  made.  But  it  was  for  a  moment  only  that  he  stood  in 
doubt.  Then  he  called  the  barge-master  to  him,  and  gave  some 
order  in  a  low  voice;  and  then,  accompanied  by  the  priest,  went 
out  rapidly  from  the  hall. 

Evidently  in  obedience  to  the  order  that  he  had  received, 
the  barge-master  bade  us  follow  him,  and  so  led  us  into  the 
court-yard  again.  Young  proposed,  since  we  had  only  this  one 
man  to  deal  with,  that  we  should  make  short  work  of  him,  and 
so  get  back  our  arms — which  remained  where  he  had  placed 
them  in  a  pile  beside  the  throne.  But  Rayburn's  more  prudent 
counsel  overcame  this  tempting  proposition.  As  he  pointed  out, 
the  promptness  with  which  the  curtains  had  been  pulled  back 
showed  that  attendants  of  some  sort  were  close  at  hand;  and,  in 
addition  to  these,  we  knew  that  the  guard  of  soldiers  was  just 
outside  of  the  entrance  to  the  hall.  It  was  certain,  therefore, 
that  we  could  not  regain  our  arms  without  immediately  using 
them  in  very  active  fighting;  and  no  matter  how  well  we  fought, 
under  these  conditions  we  must  certainly  be  defeated  in  the  end. 

For  my  part,  even  the  peril  that  we  were  in  did  not  suffice  to 
distract  my  mind  from  curious  consideration  of  the  strange  state 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        159 

of  affairs  that  existed  among  the  folk  dwelling  in  this  hidden 
valley  if  our  surmise  in  regard  to  the  Priest  Captain's  knowledge 
of  the  outer  world  should  prove  to  be  well  founded;  and  unless 
it  were  well  founded,  there  seemed  to  be  no  possible  way  by 
which  to  account  for  his  possession  of  friction-matches,  his 
acquaintance  with  fire-arms,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  Spanish 
tongue.  The  implication  was  unavoidable  that  this  extraordinary 
man  actually  had  a  more  or  less  complete  knowledge  of  the 
powers  and  appliances  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  that  he 
was  using  his  nineteenth  century  knowledge  to  maintain  his 
supremacy  over  a  people  whose  civilization  was  about  on  a  par 
with  that  of  European  communities  of  a  thousand  years  ago. 

As  we  came  out  into  the  court-yard  we  heard  the  sound  of 
voices,  which  seemed  to  be  raised  in  angry  altercation,  coming 
from  the  direction  of  the  main  entrance,  with  which  there  was 
also  a  slight  clinking  sound  as  of  arms  being  got  in  readiness; 
and,  much  farther  away,  the  sound  seemingly  coming  from  a  dis 
tant  quarter  of  the  city,  the  tapping  of  a  drum.  When  we  first 
had  crossed  the  court-yard  it  had  been  entirely  deserted;  but 
now  many  priests  and  soldiers  were  standing  in  groups  about 
it,  and  more  were  coming  down  the  stair  from  the  temple;  and 
all  of  these  men  had  a  look  of  eager  alertness,  as  though  some 
decisive  event  were  imminent  in  which  they  expected  to  have 
a  part.  But  we  had  only  a  moment  in  which  to  observe  all  this, 
for  we  were  hurried  away  towards  the  corner  of  the  building 
that  was  most  remote  from  the  street,  and  here,  before  I  well 
could  understand  what  was  being  done  with  me,  I  was  thrust  so 
suddenly  and  so  violently  through  a  narrow  door-way  that  I  fell 
heavily  upon  the  floor.  Before  I  could  regain  my  feet  Young 
had  tumbled  down  on  top  of  me,  and  then  the  others  tumbled 
on  top  of  us  both  and  we  heard  the  rattle  of  metal  upon  stone 
as  the  door-way  was  quickly  closed  with  heavy  bars. 

We  struggled  to  our  feet  in  wellnigh  total  darkness — for  out 
side  the  bars  a  curtain  had  been  dropped  that  shut  off  almost 
wholly  the  light  of  day — and  I  am  confident  that  no  one  room 
ever  contained  two  angrier  people  than  Rayburn  and  Young  were 
then ;  for  their  very  strength  and  hardihood  made  them  the  more 
ragingly  resent  being  thus  tumbled  about  as  though  they  were 


160        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

bales  or  boxes  rather  than  men.  Rayburn's  language  was  not 
open  to  the  charge  of  weakness ;  but  the  words  in  which  Young 
gave  vent  to  his  feelings  were  so  startlingly  vigorous  that  even 
a  Wyoming  cow-boy  would  have  been  surprised  by  them.  For 
once  I  was  pleased  that  Fray  Antonio  did  not  understand 
English. 

But  our  anger  quickly  was  swallowed  up  in  anxious  grief  as 
we  discovered,  when  our  eyes  had  become  somewhat  accustomed 
to  the  very  faint  light,  that  only  we  four  were  in  the  room 
together;  and  a  great  dread  fell  upon  us  because  of  the  imminent 
peril  to  Pablo  which  this  separation  of  him  from  the  rest  of 
us  implied.  Assuredly  there  was  strong  reason  why  he  should 
be  an  especial  object  of  Itzacoatl's  fear  and  hatred.  He  and 
El  Sabio  together  were  the  visible  sign  which  told  that  the 
prophecy  touching  the  Priest  Captain's  downfall  was  about  to 
be  fulfilled;  and,  more  than  this,  Pafrlo's  simple  statement  of 
the  condition  of  affairs  among  the  modern  Mexicans  would  be 
far  more  convincing  to  the  masses  of  the  Aztlanecas  than  would 
be  any  exhibition  of  these  same  facts  that  we  could  make  to 
them.  That  we  all  were  like  to  be  done  to  death  by  this  bar 
barous  theocrat  we  did  not  for  a  moment  doubt;  but  it  was  plain 
enough  that  every  motive  of  self-interest  must  prompt  him  to 
put  Pablo  and  the  poor  ass  most  summarily  out  of  the  way.  And 
as  the  logic  of  these  facts  irresistibly  presented  itself  in  my  mind 
a  keen  and  heavy  sorrow  overcame  me,  for  I  could  not  shirk  the 
conviction  that,  whoever  might  strike  the  blow  that  killed  him,  I 
myself  was  the  cause  of  this  poor  boy's  death. 

Meanwhile  the  commotion  outside  increased  greatly,  and  even 
through  the  thick  folds  of  the  curtain  we  could  hear  plainly  the 
clanking  of  arms,  and  the  heavy  tread  of  men,  and  sharply  given 
words  of  command.  We  pressed  close  to  the  bars  and  tried  to 
push  the  curtain  aside  that  we  might  see  out  into  the  court-yard; 
but  the  bars  were  so  near  together  that  our  hands  would  not 
pass  between  them,  and  we  therefore  could  gather  only  from  the 
sounds  which  we  heard  what  was  going  on  outside.  But  the 
sounds  were  unmistakable.  There  could  be  no  doubt  whatever 
that  a  vigorous  assault  upon  the  building  was  in  progress,  and 
that  those  within  it  vigorously  were  defending  it;  and  we  knew 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         161 

that  the  cause  of  the  fighting  certainly  must  be  ourselves.  Al 
ready,  it  would  seem,  the  prophecy  of  the  Priest  Captain's  down 
fall  was  assuming  a  tangible  reality;  for  this  rising  in  arms 
against  him  could  mean  nothing  less  than  that  his  high-lianded 
refusal  to  permit  us  to  be  carried  before  the  Council  of  the 
Twenty  Lords  had  fairly  brought  matters  to  a  crisis,  and  that 
the  long-threatened  revolution  actually  had  been  begun. 


Chapter  XXIII 

*rTT\HAT  the  two  parties  should  be  thus  battling  for  possession 
JL  of  us  gave  us  a  gleam  of  hope  for  the  saving  of  our  lives. 
Knowing  this,  it  was  a  hard  trial  of  our  nerves  and  tempers 
to  be  forced  to  remain  there  idle  in  the  dark,  without  the  chance 
to  strike  in  our  own  behalf  a  single  blow.  Young  strode  back 
ward  and  forward;  Rayburn,  not  less  resolute,  but  more  self- 
contained,  pressed  close  against  the  bars  and  never  stirred.  And 
even  I,  who  am  not  naturally  of  a  blood-thirsty  disposition,  found 
the  need  of  walking  briskly  about  our  prison  in  order  to  quiet 
a  little  my  strong  longing  to  be  outside  with  a  weapon  in  my 
hands  wherewith  I  could  crack  some  skulls  open.  Indeed,  among 
us  all,  only  Fray  Antonio  maintained  an  outward  show  of  calm. 

Thus  far,  all  the  sounds  which  we  had  heard  had  come  to  us 
from  the  direction  of  the  front  of  the  house,  but  suddenly  there 
was  an  outcry  of  alarm  close  by  us  in  the  court-yard,  so  that  we 
knew  that  the  assailants,  either  by  beating  in  the  grating  or  by 
scaling  the  roof,  had  got  inside.  They  and  the  defenders  were 
engaged,  hand  to  hand,  almost  within  arm's-length  of  us.  We 
could  hear  loudly  the  yells  with  which  every  stroke  was  accom 
panied,  and  the  clang  of  metal  striking  upon  metal,  and  the  dull, 
crushing  sound  of  the  blows  which  went  home  truly  and  carved 
through  flesh  and  bone — and  we  could  see  no  more  of  it  all  than 
if  we  were  dreaming,  and  these  sounds  of  savage  warfare  were 
but  the  imaginings  of  our  brains! 

It  was  only  a  moment  or  two  after  this  that  the  sounds  of 
conflict  very  sensibly  diminished,  and  we  heard  a  rush  made,  and 
the  confused  tread  of  feet  upon  the  stairs  that  led  upward  to 
the  temple,  and  then  came  so  jubilant  a  shouting  that  we  knew 
that  to  one  side  or  the  other  had  come  victory. 

"If  th'  Priest  Captain's  outfit's  on  top,"  Young  said,  grimly, 
"I  guess  we've  about  got  t'  th'  end  of  a  division;  an'  there's  not 
much  chance  of  our  changin'  engines  an'  keepin'  on  with  th'  run." 

162 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        163 

To  which  figurative  suggestion  Rayburn  gave  an  immediate  grunt 
of  assent. 

But  at  that  very  instant  there  was  a  lull  in  the  tumult  outside, 
and  we  heard  a  voice  that  I  recognized  as  Tizoc's  loudly  calling 
to  us;  and  to  his  hail,  that  carried  such  joyful  meaning  with  it, 
I  joyfully  and  loudly  answered.  To  Rayburn  and  Young,  of 
course,  the  call  was  unintelligible,  nor  did  they  recognize  the 
voice  of  him  who  called;  and  they  therefore  were  disposed  to 
think,  when  I  fell  to  shouting,  that  my  brain  was  addled.  How 
ever,  they  changed  their  views  a  minute  or  two  later  when  they 
saw  Tizoc's  friendly  face  outside  the  bars,  and  then  saw  the  bars 
rapidly  removed. 

"Colonel,"  said  Young,  very  seriously,  as  we  stepped  forth 
thankfully  once  more  into  the  sunshine,  "you  may  not  know  what 
a  brick  is,  but  you  are  one.  Shake  I"  and  very  much  to  Tizoc's 
astonishment,  though  he  perceived  that  the  act  was  meant  to 
express  great  friendliness,  Young  most  vigorously  shook  his 
hand. 

There  was  not  a  moment  to  lose,  he  said;  throughout  the  city 
the  priests  everywhere  were  rallying  forces  to  Itzacoatl's  sup 
port,  and  at  any  instant  we  might  be  attacked.  As  he  spoke  he 
drew  us  away  with  him  towards  the  street,  where  the  main  body 
of  his  men  still  remained — for  only  a  small  part  of  them  had 
joined  in  scaling  the  roof,  and  so  taking  the  enemy  by  surprise 
in  the  rear. 

"But  what  of  Pablo,  our  young  companion?"  I  asked,  stopping 
short  as  I  spoke. 

"My  men  are  looking  for  him;  they  will  find  him  in  a  moment; 
he  is  surely  safe;  he  may  be  already  outside.  Come." 

The  possibility  that  Pablo  truly  might  be  outside  of  the  build 
ing  was  the  only  argument  that  could  have  induced  us  to  leave 
it  without  him ;  and  that  possibility  was  so  reasonable  a  one  that 
we  made  no  more  delay.  Indeed,  we  fully  realized  the  necessity 
for  promptness.  From  all  parts  of  the  city  came  a  humming, 
angry  sound,  which  assured  us  that  everywhere  the  people  were 
aroused;  and  Tizoc  bade  us  arm  ourselves  with  what  weapons 
we  could  use  most  effectively  among  those  which  were  scattered 
about  the  pavement  of  the  court-yard,  as  we  surely  would  have 


1 64        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

need  of  weapons  soon.  A  sword  was  the  only  instrument  of 
warfare  of  which  I  had  knowledge,  and  I  took,  therefore,  one 
of  the  heavy  maccuahuitls ;  and  the  others,  also,  excepting  Fray 
Antonio,  similarly  armed  themselves,  each  with  a  sword  that 
they  found  lying  beside  the  dead  hand  that  never  would  wield 
it  more.  It  was  as  we  obeyed  Tizoc's  order  that  we  saw  how 
fierce  and  how  bloody  the  fight  had  been ;  for  the  court-yard  was 
red  with  blood,  like  a  slaughter-house,  and  over  the  stones  every 
where  dead  bodies  were  lying,  all  cut  and  gashed  with  ghastly 
wounds.  Excepting  a  few  of  Tizoc's  men,  who  had  bound  up 
their  hurts,  and  who  staggered  along  with  us,  not  a  wounded 
man  remained  alive;  whence  we  inferred  that  the  fight  had  been 
waged  on  strictly  barbarous  principles,  and  that  no  quarter  had 
been  given. 

The  metal  grating  that  closed  the  entrance  had  been  raised 
by  Tizoc's  people  from  the  inside,  and  we  passed  out  beneath  it 
to  where  the  main  body  of  his  men  was  drawn  up  in  readiness 
to  march.  But  of  Pablo  and  El  Sabio  there  was  no  sign.  Tizoc 
was  not  less  distressed  by  the  loss  of  the  lad  that  we  were,  for 
he  had  counted  upon  the  moral  effect  which  the  exhibition  of 
Pablo  and  El  Sabio  most  certainly  would  produce  to  aid  power 
fully  in  fomenting  the  spirit  of  revolt.  When,  therefore,  we 
refused  to  go  forward  until  further  search  had  been  made,  he 
did  not  oppose  us;  but  he  told  us  that  every  room  in  the  build 
ing  had  been  examined  without  the  finding  of  a  trace  of  him. 
There  could  be  no  doubt,  he  said,  that  when  we  had  been  made 
prisoners  Pablo,  and  El  Sabio  with  him,  had  been  taken  up  the 
stair  to  the  temple  for  greater  security;  in  which  place,  if  they 
were  not  both  by  this  time  dead,  they  still  remained.  Whereupon 
Young  was  for  making  an  attack  upon  the  temple  instantly, 
and  in  this  project  Rayburn  and  I  warmly  seconded  him;  and 
even  Fray  Antonio  said  that  this  was  a  case  in  which  he  felt 
justified  in  using  carnal  weapons,  since  the  fighting  would  be  to 
rescue  from  among  infidels  a  Christian  soul. 

But  Tizoc  hurriedly  explained  to  us  the  hopelessness,  at  that 
time,  of  such  an  assault.  The  success  that  had  attended  his 
bold  rescue  of  us  had  been  due  to  the  suddenness  of  it;  for  the 
majority  of  the  people  in  the  city,  including  the  large  force  of 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         165 

soldiery  there,  assuredly  was  on  the  Priest  Captain's  side.  It 
was  outside  the  city  that  the  strength  of  the  revolution  must 
be  gathered;  and  his  orders  were,  when  his  rescue  of  us  should 
be  accomplished,  to  carry  us  safely  out  beyond  the  walls  with 
all  possible  speed.  Such  of  the  Council  of  the  Twenty  Lords 
as  had  decided  to  take  the  chances  of  revolt — being  all  the 
members  of  that  body  save  the  five  priests  that  had  belonged 
to  it — already  had  gone  down  to  the  water-side,  together  with 
the  small  force  that  they  had  gathered,  that  they  might  seize  the 
water-gate  and  hold  it  until  we  should  join  them.  Even  now  it 
was  certain  that  in  going  down  through  the  city  we  should  have 
to  fight  our  way,  and  each  moment  that  we  delayed  our  retreat 
increased  our  danger.  Capturing  the  temple  now  was  a  sheer 
impossibility.  Our  only  hope  of  saving  Pablo's  life  lay  in  our 
getting  away  promptly,  and  so  beginning  the  preparations  that 
would  lead  to  ultimate  victory. 

All  the  while  that  Tizoc  spoke  he  was  edging  us  away  towards 
the  outer  face  of  the  terrace,  where  steps  led  downward;  and 
when  the  men  who  had  been  searching  the  building  once  more 
for  Pablo  returned  without  him,  he  resolutely  gave  the  order 
to  march.  To  the  arguments  that  he  had  advanced  we  were 
compelled  to  yield;  but  our  hearts  were  heavy  with  sorrow  for 
the  boy  whom  we  were  leaving  behind  us,  and  little  hope  was 
in  our  breasts  that  we  ever  again  should  see  him  alive. 

The  truth  of  Tizoc's  words  about  the  great  danger  that  we 
ourselves  were  in  became  apparent  as  we  crossed  the  terrace 
next  below  that  on  which  our  march  began.  Where  the  street 
passed  through  the  rampart  by  a  narrow  portal,  and  so  by  a 
flight  of  stone  steps  descended  to  the  next  level,  soldiers  were 
clustered  together  with  the  evident  intention  of  disputing  the 
way  with  us.  Their  number  was  so  much  less  than  ours  that 
we  made  short  work  of  them;  killing  a  few,  and  driving  the 
remainder  down  the  steps  before  us.  But  those  who  escaped 
ran  on  ahead  of  us  to  where  the  next  rampart  was,  and  there 
joined  themselves  to  a  much  larger  body  that  lay  in  wait  for  us. 
Here  our  work  was  less  easy;  for  the  force  that  confronted  us 
was  nearly  our  equal,  and  some  resolute  fighting  was  required 
before  we  could  drive  it  before  us  and  so  pass  on.  Some  of  our 


166        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

men  were  killed  there,  and  more  of  the  enemy;  and  I  got  a  trifling 
hurt  in  my  arm  from  the  point  of  a  javelin,  that,  luckily,  did 
little  more  than  graze  the  skin. 

With  a  final  rush  we  succeeded  in  forcing  the  enemy  through 
the  narrow  opening  in  the  rampart,  and  so  down  the  steps 
beyond;  but  as  we  pursued  them  across  the  next  terrace,  keep 
ing  close  at  their  heels  so  that  they  might  not  have  time  to  form 
again,  many  of  our  wounded  fell  out  from  the  ranks  and  dropped 
by  the  way — and  we  had  left  behind  us  a  dozen  or  more  of  our 
dead  on  the  ground  where  the  fight  had  been. 

Our  tactics  of  rapid  pursuit  of  the  force  that  we  had  defeated 
served  us  well  at  the  next  rampart;  for  the  men  whom  we  pur 
sued  and  we  ourselves  came  to  it  almost  in  one  body,  and  thus 
threw  into  such  confusion  the  fresh  force  that  was  waiting  for 
us  that,  without  any  long  fighting  about  it,  we  drove  right 
through  them  and  went  on  downward;  and  in  the  same  dashing 
fashion  we  carried  the  rampart  beyond.  As  we  approached  the 
last  of  the  ramparts,  where  was  gathered  the  largest  body  of 
men  that  we  had  yet  encountered,  we  found  ourselves  fairly 
wedged  in  between  two  bodies  of  the  enemy  and  outnumbered 
four  to  one.  Here,  too,  the  passage  through  the  rampart  had 
been  closed  by  the  metal  bars  that  were  in  readiness  for  that 
purpose.  Setting  these  in  place  was  no  real  barrier  to  our  pas 
sage,  for,  being  intended  to  close  the  portal  against  assailants 
from  below,  the  fastenings  which  held  them  were  on  the  side 
nearest  to  us.  But  to  remove  them  it  was  necessary  that  we 
should  fight  our  way  through  the  crowd — with  no  possibility 
of  driving  the  enemy  before  us,  as  we  had  done  upon  the  upper 
terraces,  since  here  the  way  was  closed.  What  we  did  was 
literally  to  cut  a  path  through  the  throng;  and  over  the  men 
who  fell  dead  or  wounded  beneath  our  blows  we  made  our 
advance. 

Very  slowly  did  we  go  forward,  for  while  the  living  barrier 
that  we  had  to  deal  with  was  not  at  the  outset  more  than  twenty 
feet,  or  thereabout,  in  thickness,  hacking  it  down  took  us  a 
tediously  long  time.  While  still  we  faced  a  dozen  or  more  very 
desperate  fighters,  who  held  us  off  most  resolutely  from  the 
metal  bars  which  closed  the  way,  a  pang  of  dread  and  sorrow 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        167 

went  through  me  as  I  perceived  that  Fray  Antonio,  who  a 
moment  before  had  been  close  beside  me,  had  disappeared.  That 
he  might  the  better  restrain  his  longing  to  take  part  in  the  fight 
ing  he  had  remained  in  the  centre  of  our  men;  and  it  was  hard 
to  understand  how,  in  that  position,  harm  could  have  come  to 
him,  for  missiles  had  no  share  in  the  work  that  was  going  for 
ward,  which  was  a  fiery  struggle  hand  to  hand. 

As  I  looked  for  him  in  the  throng — so  far  as  I  could  do  this 
and  at  the  same  time  keep  up  my  guard  against  the  man  whom  at 
that  moment  I  was  fighting  with — I  saw  some  signs  of  uneasy 
movement  among  the  enemy  in  advance  of  us,  and  several  of 
them  evidently  made  an  effort  to  reach  down  as  though  to  get 
at  something  that  was  on  the  ground;  which  effort  was  wholly 
futile,  for  they  were  wedged  so  tightly  together  by  our  pressure 
upon  them  that  reaching  downward  was  impossible.  By  a  lucky 
blow,  I  just  then  finished  the  man  with  whom  I  was  contending, 
and  so  had  a  moment's  breathing  spell;  and  at  that  instant  I 
saw  one  of  the  enemy,  whose  back  was  ranged  against  the  bars, 
rise  up  in  the  air  as  though  a  strong  spring  had  been  loosed 
beneath  him,  and  then  fall  sidewise  upon  the  heads  and  shoulders 
of  his  fellows.  And  then,  in  the  place  thus  made  vacant,  the 
cowled  head  of  Fray  Antonio  instantly  appeared — whereby  I 
guessed,  what  afterwards  I  knew  certainly,  that  he  had  crawled 
along  the  ground  through  the  press  until  he  reached  the 
place  that  he  aimed  at,  and  then  had  risen  up  beneath  one  of  the 
enemy  with  such  sudden  violence  that  he  fairly  had  sent  the  man 
spinning  upward  into  the  air.  What  his  purpose  was  I  saw  in 
a  moment,  for  no  sooner  did  he  stand  upright  than  he  had  his 
hands  upon  the  metal  bars,  and  then  I  heard  the  clinking  together 
of  stone  and  metal  as  he  lifted  them  bodily  away. 


Chapter  XXIV 

"OAYBURN  gave  a  great  roar  of  gladness  as  the  clinking 
JI^.  sound  made  him  turn  and  he  saw  what  was  going  forward; 
and  Young  and  I  joined  him  in  lusty  Anglo-Saxon  cheering,  while 
our  allies,  in  the  savage  fashion  natural  to  them,  vented  their 
joy  in  shrill  yells.  In  the  midst  of  which  cheering  and  yelling 
we  pushed  forward  so  hotly  that  the  enemy  seemed  suddenly  to 
lose  heart  so  completely  that  we  had  no  difficulty  in  cutting  them 
down.  Even  had  they  not  been  too  closely  wedged  in  to  turn 
upon  Fray  Antonio,  our  strong  dashing  upon  them  would  have 
compelled  them  to  leave  him  unharmed  in  order  to  defend  them 
selves;  and  so  it  was  that,  by  the  time  we  had  cut  a  path  to  the 
portal,  the  monk  had  released  the  whole  tier  of  bars  from  their 
fastenings,  and  the  way  was  free. 

As  we  sprang  down  the  steps — with  Fray  Antonio,  once  more 
in  the  guise  of  a  non-combatant,  safe  in  the  midst  of  our  com 
pany — we  heard  a  great  outcry  from  below,  and  saw  a  consider 
able  body  of  men  marching  up  towards  us  steadily  from  the 
water-side;  but  the  alarm  that  sight  of  them  gave  us  was  only 
momentary,  for  their  shouts,  and  the  shouts  of  our  men  in 
answer,  showed  us  that  these  were  friends  come  to  our  support. 
However  we  had  no  great  need  of  them,  for  those  of  the  enemy 
whom  we  left  alive  behind  us  seemed  suddenly  to  have  grown 
sick  of  fighting,  and  made  no  attempt  to  follow  after  us  down  the 
stairs.  Yet  the  coming  of  this  supporting  force,  to  be  just 
in  the  matter,  no  doubt  was  the  saving  of  us ;  for  more  than  half 
of  the  men  who  had  been  with  us  when  we  started  on  our  march 
down  through  the  city  had  been  slain  by  the  way,  and  nearly  all 
in  our  company  were  more  or  less  disabled  by  wounds.  Tizoc 
and  Young  and  Rayburn  had  come  through  it  all  without  so  much 
as  a  scratch,  and  because  of  their  extraordinary  strength  these 
three  were  almost  as  fresh  as  when  the  fighting  began;  but  the 
rest  of  us  were  sorely  weary,  and  our  breathing  was  so  heavy  and 
so  tremulous  that  each  breath  was  like  a  long-drawn  sob.  Truly, 

168 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        169 

then,  we  were  glad  to  fall  in  in  advance  of  the  supporting  col 
umn  and  so  make  our  way,  with  a  strong  rear-guard  for  our 
protection,  across  the  bit  of  level  land  that  lay  between  us  and 
the  lake. 

At  the  water-side  boats  were  in  readiness  for  us,  and  here 
we  found  also  the  members  of  the  Council  who  had  ordered,  and 
who  were  the  recognized  leaders  of,  the  revolt.  There  was  still 
more  fighting  ahead  of  us,  for  the  necessity  of  sending  back  the 
relief  party  had  prevented  the  seizing  of  the  water-gate;  and 
this  was  a  matter  that  had  to  be  attended  to  quickly,  for  we 
could  see  bodies  of  men  coming  down  several  of  the  streets  in 
pursuit  of  us,  and  unless  we  escaped  outside  the  wall  before  they 
overtook  us  there  was  a  strong  and  dismal  probability  that  our 
whole  plan  would  fail.  Therefore,  we  tumbled  aboard  the  boats 
with  all  possible  rapidity,  and  while  the  pursuing  parties  still 
were  far  in  our  rear  we  shoved  off  from  the  shore. 

Two  minutes'  quick  rowing  sufficed  to  carry  our  flotilla  of 
boats  across  the  basin,  and  so  brought  us  to  the  long  pier  that 
extended  landward  from  beside  the  water-gate,  and  from  which 
an  open  stair-way  ascended  to  the  top  of  the  wall.  On  the  pier 
there  was  no  one  at  all  to  oppose  our  landing;  and  the  force  on 
the  wall  was  not  likely  to  be  a  large  one,  for  the  outbreak  had 
come  so  suddenly  that  there  had  been  no  time  to  increase  the 
small  detail  maintained  in  this  position  in  times  of  peace.  Only 
a  few  of  our  men,  therefore — thirty  or  forty,  perhaps — were 
ordered  out  of  the  boats  to  the  attack,  of  which  the  leader  was 
Tizoc,  and  with  which  Rayburn  and  Young  went  as  volunteers. 
I  also  would  have  joined  the  party;  but  Rayburn,  knowing  that 
I  was  slightly  wounded,  begged  me  to  stay  where  I  was. 

What  went  on  above  us,  on  top  of  the  wall,  we  could  not 
see;  but  the  work  done  there  was  done  quickly.  There  was  a 
little  shouting,  a  sound  of  arms  clashing,  and  then  four  or  five 
men — as  though  this  were  the  easiest  way  of  getting  rid  of 
them — were  thrown  over  the  parapet,  and  fell  near  us  in  the 
water.  Then  we  heard  the  sound  of  a  windlass  creaking,  and 
the  clanking  of  chains;  and  as  we  looked  through  the  opening 
in  the  wall  we  saw  the  grating  that  closed  its  farther  end  rise 
slowly  until  the  way  before  us  was  free.  Two  of  our  boats 


i yo        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

already  were  in  the  passage,  so  that  no  time  might  be  lost;  and 
as  these  passed  out  into  the  lake,  the  others  followed  after  them 
rapidly.  One  boat  remained  to  bring  off  the  attacking  party,  and 
we  wondered  a  little  because  its  coming  was  a  good  while 
delayed.  But  we  wondered  still  more  when  it  joined  us  at  last, 
and  we  found  that  Tizoc  and  Young  and  Rayburn  were  not  in  it ; 
indeed,  at  that  moment  I  saw  the  three  of  them  standing  together 
on  top  of  the  wall.  In  answer  to  the  shout  that  I  gave,  Rayburn 
leaned  over  the  wall  and  motioned  to  me  to  keep  silence;  so  I 
knew  that  they  had  not  been  left  behind  through  treachery,  but 
were  staying  there  because  they  had  some  plan  against  the  enemy 
that  they  thus  could  execute.  And  for  knowledge  of  what  their 
plan  was  we  did  not  have  to  wait  long. 

As  we  lay  on  our  oars,  off  the  outer  end  of  the  water-gate, 
we  could  see  through  it  into  the  basin  that  lay  before  the  city,  and 
in  a  very  few  minutes  the  pursuing  boats  of  the  enemy  came  into 
view.  As  they  neared  us,  we  saw  standing  in  the  bow  of  the 
leading  boat  the  same  officer  who  had  commanded  the  guard  that 
had  brought  us  as  prisoners  before  the  Priest  Captain;  the  man 
of  whom  I  have  spoken  as  the  barge-master.  He  was  calling  to 
his  men  savagely  to  row  faster;  for  our  boats  were  so  scattered 
that  he  only  could  see  the  one  in  which  we  happened  to  be,  and 
he  doubtless  imagined  that  the  others  had  gone  forward,  and 
that  this  one  waited  to  carry  off  some  of  our  men  who  yet  re 
mained  on  the  wall.  He  evidently  hoped  to  be  able  to  cut  us  off 
from  the  rest  of  our  party,  and  his  eagerness  had  so  communi 
cated  itself  to  his  oarsmen  that  his  boat  led  the  others  by  nearly 
a  hundred  yards.  So  far  as  this  one  boat  was  concerned,  we  felt 
no  alarm,  for  the  moment  that  it  came  out  through  the  wall 
our  whole  force  was  ready  to  dash  upon  it;  yet  we  wondered  why 
Tizoc  permitted  even  a  single  boat  to  come  out  to  the  attack, 
when,  by  dropping  the  grating,  they  all  could  be  penned  in  so 
effectually  as  to  give  us  the  advantage  of  a  long  start. 

As  the  boat  neared  the  water-gate  the  barge-master  went  back 
from  his  place  in  the  bow  to  the  middle  part  of  it,  and  there 
crouched  down;  and  some  soldiers  who  were  standing  crouched 
down  also ;  and  almost  as  the  bow  entered  the  low,  narrow  pas 
sage  the  oars  were  unshipped  and  taken  aboard.  So  cleverly 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         171 

was  the  unshipping  of  the  oars  managed,  and  so  good  was  the 
steering,  that  the  boat  shot  into  the  passage  under  full  speed,  and 
so  came  nearly  through  it  before  losing  head-way.  And  we 
who  were  nearest  to  it  got  our  arms  in  readiness — for  we  were 
convinced  that  in  another  minute  the  barge-master  would  lay  us 
aboard. 

All  this  while  Rayburn  had  stood  close  by  the  parapet,  bend 
ing  over  it  and  intently  watching  the  outside  of  the  water-gate; 
above  which  the  heavy  metal  grating  had  been  hauled  up,  in 
the  metal  grooves  that  it  ran  in,  almost  to  the  top  of  the  wall. 
At  the  moment  that  the  bow  of  the  boat  showed  outside  the 
opening  he  raised  his  hand,  as  though  signalling  to  Young  and 
Tizoc  behind  him;  and  in  that  same  instant  we  heard  the  shriek 
ing  of  the  windlass  and  the  quick  clanking  of  the  unwinding 
chains,  and  saw  the  metal  grating  rushing  down  the  face  of 
the  wall.  With  all  the  force  generated  by  the  fall  from  so  great 
a  height  of  so  ponderous  a  body,  the  grating  came  crashing  into 
the  boat  just  amidships,  fairly  dividing  its  heavy  timbers  and 
forcing  the  fragments  of  it,  together  with  all  the  men  that  it 
carried,  down  into  the  water's  depths.  But  the  barge-master 
died  by  a  quicker  death  than  drowning.  He  still  was  crouched 
in  the  middle  of  the  boat,  and  the  sharp  angle  of  the  lower 
bar  of  the  grating  struck  him  just  on  the  nape  of  his  neck  so 
keenly  that  his  head  was  cut  off. 

A  great  yell  of  delight  went  up  from  our  boats  as  this  bril 
liant  stroke  so  brilliantly  was  delivered;  and  an  answering  cry  of 
triumph — that  was  one-third  a  yell  and  two-thirds  a  cheer — came 
back  from  Tizoc  and  the  others  on  top  of  the  wall.  However, 
they  had  no  time  to  waste  in  shouting  over  their  success,  for  the 
remaining  boats  of  the  enemy  had  come  by  this  time  to  the  pier 
inside  the  wall,  and  it  seemed  highly  probable  that  in  a  minute  or 
two  more  our  three  men  would  be  prisoners.  But  for  all  their 
danger  they  coolly  finished  the  work  that  they  had  in  hand.  As 
they  explained  to  me  afterwards,  Rayburn  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  stair  to  hold  the  enemy  in  check  should  they  come  before 
the  work  was  finished,  while  the  other  two  cast  off  from  the 
windlass  the  chains  by  which  the  water-gate  was  operated,  and 
dropped  them  over  the  wall  into  the  lake ;  and  as  the  gate  itself 


172        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

was  jammed  and  wedged  fast  by  the  fragments  of  the  boat,  this 
throwing  down  of  the  chains  made  the  raising  of  it  a  serious 
undertaking  that  well  might  require  a  day  or  more  to  accomplish. 

As  the  chains  fell  with  a  splash,  and  we  comprehended  the 
thoroughness  of  the  work  that  these  three  were  doing,  our  people 
burst  forth  into  yells  again;  and  a  perfect  roar  went  up  from 
them  when,  the  gate  being  closed  and  the  apparatus  for  raising 
it  being  entirely  disabled,  Rayburn  sprang  from  the  outer  edge 
of  the  parapet  into  the  lake,  and  Tizoc  and  Young  instantly 
followed  him.  Our  boat  already  was  near  the  wall — having 
pulled  in  that  the  soldiers  aboard  of  it  might  spear  such  of  the 
enemy  as  came  up  to  the  surface  alive — and  we  had  the  three 
out  of  the  water  and  safe  among  us  in  very  short  order ;  and  then 
we  pulled  away  towards  the  other  boats  with  all  possible  speed 
— for  the  wall  now  was  manned  by  the  enemy,  and  they  were 
beginning  to  make  things  unpleasantly  hot  for  us  with  the 
heavy  stones  which  they  heaved  over  the  parapet,  that  our  boat 
might  be  sunk  by  them,  and  by  a  rapid  discharge  of  darts.  Luck 
ily,  none  of  the  stones  struck  us,  and  because  of  the  rapid  way 
that  we  were  making,  only  two  of  our  men  were  struck  with 
the  darts.  So,  on  the  whole,  we  came  out  of  this  encounter  very 
well;  for  these  two  men  killed  in  our  boat  were  all  that  we  lost, 
while  of  the  enemy  at  least  forty  were  drowned  or  speared. 

Dripping  wet  though  they  were,  I  fairly  hugged  Rayburn  and 
Young  when  they  were  safe  aboard  with  us,  as  did  also  Fray 
Antonio,  whose  daring  spirit  was  mightily  aroused  by  witnessing 
their  splendid  bravery. 

Being  once  out  of  range  of  the  darts,  we  pulled  towards  the 
other  boats  leisurely;  for  now  we  were  entirely  safe  against 
pursuit,  and  were  free  to  go  upon  the  lake  in  whatsoever  direc 
tion  we  pleased.  That  some  positive  line  of  action  had  been 
determined  upon  was  evident,  for  the  flotilla  already  was  in 
motion  as  we  came  up  in  the  rear  of  it — the  boat  containing  the 
members  of  the  Council  leading — and  the  order  was  passed 
back  to  us  that  we  should  follow  with  the  rest.  From  the  direc 
tion  in  which  we  were  heading,  Tizoc  inferred  that  we  were 
bound  for  the  only  other  considerable  town  in  the  valley,  that 
which  had  grown  up  around  the  shafts  leading  to  the  great 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        173 

mine  whence  the  Aztlanecas  drew  their  supply  of  gold.  There 
was  a  very  grave  look  upon  his  face  as  he  told  us  of  our  prob 
able  destination;  and  presently  added  that  the  population  of  this 
town — save  the  few  freemen  who  were  in  charge  of  the  work 
ings,  and  the  large  guard  of  soldiers  that  always  was  maintained 
there — was  made  up  wholly  of  Tlahuicos  who  had  been  selected 
from  their  fellows  to  be  miners  because  of  their  exceptional 
hardiness  and  strength. 

It  was  among  these  men,  he  went  on  to  tell  us,  speaking  in 
a  low,  guarded  voice,  that  the  most  dangerous  of  the  revolts 
of  the  Tlahuicos  invariably  had  their  origin ;  for  the  miners  were 
fierce,  half-savage  creatures,  naturally  turbulent  and  rebellious, 
and  were  stirred  constantly  to  resentful  anger  because  of  the 
life  of  crushing  toil  that  they  were  condemned  to  lead.  In  order 
that  their  labor,  a  thing  of  positive  value,  might  not  be  lost 
through  their  dying  of  being  thus  imprisoned  in  the  bowels  of 
the  earth,  they  were  divided  into  ten  great  companies,  each  one 
of  which,  in  regular  order,  was  employed  in  the  surface  work 
under  the  constant  supervision  of  a  strong  guard.  Yet  even 
these  stern  measures  were  not  wholly  effective  in  preventing 
mutiny.  Many  times  great  revolts  had  broken  out  here  that 
had  set  all  the  valley  in  an  uproar,  and  that  had  been  crushed 
only  after  pitched  battles  had  been  fought  between  the  rebels  and 
the  entire  military  force  of  the  state.  The  town  was  a  veritable 
volcano,  Tizoc  declared;  and  because  of  the  dread  of  it  that 
universally  obtained,  by  reason  of  the  frequent  outbursts  there 
of  lawless  violence,  it  had  received  the  name  of  Huitzilan :  the 
Town  of  War. 

And  there  could  be  no  doubt,  he  added — while  the  tones  of  his 
voice  and  the  look  upon  his  face  showed  how  great  he  believed 
to  be  the  risk  involved  in  this  line  of  policy — that  in  now  direct 
ing  our  course  towards  the  mining  town  the  deliberate  purpose 
of  the  Council  was  to  incite  these  semi-savage,  wholly  desperate 
miners  to  join  forces  with  us  in  our  rising  against  the  Priest 
Captain's  power. 


Chapter  XXV 

S  WE  rounded  a  mountain  spur  that  extended  a  long  way 
out  mto  tne  lake,  a  deep  bay  opened  to  us;  which  bay  ran 
close  in  to  the  cliffs  whereby  the  valley  was  surrounded,  and  was 
at  no  great  distance  from  the  Barred  Pass,  through  which  we 
had  made  our  entry.  At  the  foot  of  the  bay,  built  partly  upon 
the  level  land  near  the  water-side,  and  partly  upon  the  steep 
ascent  beyond,  was  the  town  of  Huitzilan — whereof  the  most 
curious  feature  that  at  first  was  noticeable  was  a  tall  chimney, 
whence  thick  black  smoke  was  pouring  forth,  that  rose  above 
a  stone  building  of  great  solidity  and  of  a  very  considerable  size. 
The  foremost  boats  of  the  flotilla  had  made  a  landing  at  a 
well-built  pier  that  extended  from  the  shore  into  deep  water;  and 
a  minute  or  two  later  our  boat  also  pulled  in  to  the  pier,  and 
we  disembarked.  The  general  view  of  the  town  had  showed 
me  that  it  was  closely  built  over  an  area  rather  more  than  half 
a  mile  square;  that  the  houses  for  the  most  part  were  mere 
hovels,  of  which  the  largest  could  not  contain  more  than  two 
small  rooms;  and  that  the  few  houses  of  a  better  sort  were 
within  the  strong  stone  wall  by  which  the  reduction-works  also 
were  enclosed.  At  the  pier  where  we  landed  a  boat  was  in 
process  of  lading  with  bars  of  gold  for  transport  to  the  Treasure- 
house  in  the  city;  and  I  thought  that  I  never  had  seen  anywhere 
more  savage-looking  fellows  than  the  almost  naked  laborers 
by  whom  the  work  of  lading  was  carried  on.  Physically  these 
men  were  magnificent  creatures — tall  and  well-shaped  and  vig 
orous,  and  the  ease  with  which  they  handled  the  great  bars  of 
gold  showed  how  enormous  must  be  their  strength.  But  so  full  of 
venomous  hate  were  the  sullen  looks  which  they  cast  upon  us, 
and  so  savage  was  the  effect  of  their  coarse,  dishevelled  hair  fall 
ing  down  over  and  partly  veiling  their  great  glittering  eyes, 
whence  these  angry  glances  were  shot  forth  at  us  like  poisoned 
darts,  that  I  was  thankful  to  see  that,  all  told,  there  were  not 
more  than  a  dozen  of  them,  and  that  three  times  as  many  heavily 

174 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        175 

armed  soldiers  served  as  their  guard.  And  looking  at  these  crea 
tures,  who  were  truly  less  like  men  than  dangerous  wild  beasts, 
I  could  not  wonder  at  the  grave  concern  which  Tizoc  had  mani 
fested  at  thought  of  the  risk  which  we  ran  in  taking  them  for 
allies. 

Yet,  dangerous  to  ourselves  though  the  use  of  it  must  be,  our 
hopes  of  success  rested  mainly  upon  our  ability  to  control  and 
to  employ  effectively  this  savage  material.  Fortunately,  it  was 
not  the  whole  of  our  reliance ;  and  it  was  our  intention  to  leaven 
this  dangerous  lump  with  the  very  considerable  number  of  trained 
and  trustworthy  soldiers  that  we  had  available  as  the  substantial 
nucleus  of  our  fighting  force,  and  also  with  the  larger  body  of 
both  slaves  and  freemen  that  we  counted  upon  to  join  us  from 
among  the  people  at  large. 

This  outline  of  the  plan  of  action  that  the  Council  had  deter 
mined  upon  was  exhibited  to  us  by  Tizoc  during  our  passage 
down  the  lake ;  and  I  was  glad  to  find  that  Rayburn  was  disposed 
to  think  well  of  it.  "For  my  part,"  said  he,  "the  sooner  they 
get  their  army  in  shape,  and  get  the  fighting  part  settled,  the 
better  I'll  be  satisfied." 

To  do  the  members  of  the  Council  justice,  they  seemed  to  be 
even  more  eager  than  Rayburn  was  to  forward  the  work  that 
they  had  in  hand.  From  the  pier  they  went  directly  to  the 
enclosure  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  within  which  was  the  build 
ing  ordinarily  occupied  by  the  commandant  of  the  post  and  by 
the  officials  of  the  civil  government;  and  in  this  place,  Tizoc 
informed  us,  they  intended  immediately  to  organize  the  new 
government,  and  then  to  proceed  with  all  possible  despatch  to 
make  arrangements  for  placing  an  army  in  the  field. 

In  Tizoc's  company,  but  more  leisurely,  we  also  went  on  to 
the  Citadel — as  we  found  the  enclosure  about  the  smelting-works 
was  called — where  comfortable  quarters  had  been  provided  for 
us  in  the  same  building  wherein  the  Council  was  housed.  Here 
we  waited,  in  somewhat  strained  idleness,  while  the  Council 
carried  on,  in  a  chamber  not  far  removed  from  us,  its  exciting 
work  of  destroying  a  government  that  had  endured  for  more 
than  a  thousand  years;  and  we  were  mightily  surprised,  knowing 
how  prodigious  was  the  change  that  then  was  being  wrought  in 


176        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

ancient  institutions,  by  observing  how  quietly  it  all  went  on.  The 
murmur  of  talk  that  came  to  us,  unchecked  by  any  intervening 
doors,  had  no  sound  of  excitement  or  of  anger  or  of  violent 
emotion  of  any  sort. 

While  this  great  matter — which  could  end  only  in  wild  com 
motion  and  fierce  battling — went  forward  in  this  quiet  way, 
Tizoc  opened  to  us  much  that  was  of  curious  interest  touching 
the  near-by  gold-mine  and  they  who  mined  the  gold.  Of  the 
existence  of  the  mine,  he  said,  the  Aztlanecas  had  remained 
ignorant  for  many  generations  after  their  coming  into  the  valley; 
and  for  many  more  generations  but  little  gold  had  been  taken 
from  it,  because  the  metal  was  of  no  value  to  his  people  save 
for  the  making  of  ornaments.  But  when  the  process  had  been 
discovered  by  which  this  metal  could  be  hardened,  and  so  made 
serviceable  for  all  manner  of  useful  purposes,  the  development 
of  the  mine  upon  a  great  scale  had  been  begun,  and  had  been 
continued  upon  a  constantly  increasing  scale  from  that  time 
onward.  All  the  earth  beneath  where  we  then  were,  he  said, 
was  honey-combed  with  passages  which  followed  the  several 
veins;  and  of  these  there  seemed  to  be  no  end  at  all,  for  ever 
as  each  vein  was  exhausted  another  not  less  rich  was  found. 

But  great  though  our  wonder  was  at  the  prodigious  quantity 
of  precious  metal  that  this  mine  yielded  in  each  year,  and 
amazed  though  we  were  by  thought  of  the  vast  store  of  treasure 
that  the  valley  now  must  hold,  I,  for  my  part,  felt  a  far  deeper 
interest  in  what  Tizoc  went  on  to  tell  us  concerning  the  men 
by  whose  toil  the  treasure  had  been  accumulated.  And,  truly, 
so  bitter  and  so  dreary  was  the  life  of  the  Tlahuicos  who  were 
forced  to  labor  here  unceasingly,  and  through  so  long  a  period 
had  they  been  thus  cruelly  dealt  with,  that  it  seemed  to  me  there 
must  rest  upon  all  the  Valley  of  Aztlan  a  heavy  curse  that  only 
some  signal  act  of  expiation  could  remove. 

There  was  small  ground  for  wonder  that  the  Tlahuicos  should 
cherish  at  all  times  in  their  breasts  a  sullen  fire  of  mutiny;  nor 
that  on  every  occasion  at  all  favorable  to  their  purposes  there 
should  spring  forth  from  the  glowing  embers  of  their  hatred  a 
vivid  and  consuming  flame.  Only  by  the  strength  and  the  vigi 
lance  of  the  guard  that  constantly  was  maintained  over  them  was 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        177 

their  tendency  to  rebellion  held  in  check;  and  even  the  guards 
could  not  prevent  frequent  outbreaks — which  ended  only  in  the 
cruel  slaughter  of  all  concerned  in  them — so  passionately  eager 
was  the  longing  of  these  desperate  creatures  for  revenge. 

Only  once,  a  vastly  long  while  past,  Tizoc  said,  had  success 
attended  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Tlahuicos  to  release  them 
selves  from  their  cruel  slavery,  and  that  they  then  eluded  the 
vigilance  of  their  masters  was  due  to  their  employment  of 
strategy  against  force.  The  whole  matter,  he  continued,  was 
now  but  a  half-remembered  tradition,  yet  the  main  details  of  it 
were  clear.  In  that  far-back  time  a  vein  of  extraordinary  rich 
ness  had  been  followed  for  a  very  long  distance  in  the  direction 
of  the  Barred  Pass;  and,  as  the  event  proved,  the  gallery  was 
carried  beyond  the  bars,  passing  far  beneath  them,  and  so  went 
onward,  steadily  rising,  until  an  outlet  was  had  into  the  canon. 
That  the  secret  of  this  outlet  might  be  kept  among  the  men 
who  had  opened  it,  these  slew  the  guard  that  watched  over  them 
and  thrust  his  body  out  into  the  canon,  thus  most  effectually 
placing  it  beyond  the  reach  of  the  search  that  would  be  made 
for  it;  and  the  opening  that  they  had  made  they  closed  carefully, 
and  continued  a  little  way  onward  into  the  rock,  the  gallery  in 
which  they  were  working:  so  that  the  superintendent  of  the  mine 
might  see  clearly  (what,  indeed,  was  the  truth)  that  the  vein  of 
ore  had  been  followed  to  its  end. 

Tizoc  knew  not  how  long  a  time  passed  before  the  Tlahuicos 
made  use  of  the  way  of  escape  thus  opened  to  them;  but  their 
flight  could  not  have  been  taken  hastily,  because  it  included  a 
very  great  number  of  them,  and  included  also  carrying  with  them 
large  quantities  of  arms  for  warfare,  and  of  useful  household 
stores.  He  could  say  certainly  no  more  than  that  when  all  their 
well-laid  plan  was  ready  to  be  executed,  they  rose  against  the 
soldiers  which  guarded  them  with  such  suddenness  and  brave 
violence  that  they  succeeded  in  seizing  and  in  holding  the  Citadel ; 
which  gave  no  chance  for  grave  uneasiness,  for  the  officers  of  the 
force  thus  for  a  moment  driven  off  thought  that  because  of  their 
retiring  within  so  narrow  a  place  they  speedily  must  surrender 
for  dread  of  being  starved  there;  and  it  was  held  to  be  but  a 
sign  of  their  still  greater  simplicity — since  thus  would  there  be 


178        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

more  hungry  mouths  to  fill — that  they  carried  their  women  and 
children  with  them  into  the  stronghold  where  they  lay  besieged. 

But  so  strange  was  the  desolate  silence  that  hung  over  the 
place  into  which  so  great  a  multitude  had  retired,  that  the 
besiegers  presently  were  moved  by  it  to  a  wonder  wherein  was 
a  strong  feeling  of  awe;  and  still  greater  was  the  marvel  that 
they  had  to  ponder  upon  when,  at  last,  meeting  with  no  opposi 
tion,  they  broke  in  the  grating  that  barred  the  entrance  to  the 
Citadel,  and  found  within  the  enclosure  not  one  single  living 
soul !  And  so  cleverly  had  the  fugitives  closed  the  way  behind 
them  that  a  long  while  passed  before  it  was  known  certainly  what 
had  become  of  this  living  host  that,  as  it  seemed,  in  a  moment 
had  vanished  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  More  than  half  a 
lifetime  went  by  without  the  shedding  of  light  upon  this  mystery ; 
and  it  seemed  as  though  a  ghost  had  risen  when  one  day  a  very 
aged  man  came  forth  from  that  long-abandoned  passage  in  the 
mine  and  surrendered  himself  to  the  first  of  the  guards  whom 
he  encountered — and  then  told  that  he  was  a  priest  whom  the 
fleeing  rebels  had  carried  captive  with  them,  and  whom  they 
had  held  a  prisoner  through  all  these  many  years.  And  he  told 
also  how  the  rebels  had  made  their  home  in  a  certain  fair  valley 
that  was  shut  in  and  hidden  among  the  mountains;  and  how  that 
they  had  built  a  great  city — resting  fearless  in  the  conviction 
that  they  were  safe  from  harm.  By  the  heavy  toil  that  had  been 
needful  to  open  anew  the  way  into  the  mine  from  the  canon,  the 
little  remnant  of  strength  in  this  old  man's  body  had  been 
exhausted;  and  presently,  having  told  his  story,  he  died. 

Then  it  was  that  the  Priest  Captain  and  the  Council  who  ruled 
in  that  ancient  time,  having  assured  themselves  by  the  sending 
out  of  spies  that  all  which  the  old  man  had  told  them  was  true, 
planned  to  bring  upon  the  rebels  a  very  terrible  vengeance; 
which  was  to  drown  them  all  in  their  city  by  letting  loose  upon 
them  the  waters  of  a  mighty  lake.  And  this  plan,  though  its 
accomplishment  was  not  arrived  at  until  two  full  cycles  had 
passed  away,  so  mighty  was  the  labor  that  it  involved,  at  last 
was  executed:  and  in  one  single  day  every  living  creature  in  all 
that  valley  was  overwhelmed  by  the  flood  let  loose  into  it;  and 
where  so  great  a  mass  of  teeming  life  had  been  there  remained 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         179 

thereafter  only  the  desolate  silence  and  stillness  of  universal 
death. 

It  was  with  long-drawn  breaths  that  Fray  Antonio  and  I 
listened  to  Tizoc's  telling  of  this  tradition,  which  in  many  ways 
was  far  more  real  to  us  than  it  possibly  could  be  to  him;  for  we 
but  lately  had  passed  through  that  death-stricken  valley — and 
ourselves  had  been  like  to  die  there — anoT  every  feature  of  the 
scene,  that  he  could  but  vaguely  describe  to  us,  we  had  clearly 
in  our  minds.  And  thus  we  came  to  know  the  full  meaning  of 
the  great  catastrophe  whereof  we  had  seen  the  outworking, 
both  in  the  destruction  wrought  by  it  and  the  way  of  its  accom 
plishment,  but  of  which  we  had  divined  no  more  concerning  its 
cause  than  that  in  some  way  it  must  have  resulted  from  a  slowly 
worked-out  vengeance  prompted  by  a  most  malignant  hate. 


Chapter  XXVI 

ALTHOUGH  the  whole  of  the  discussion  of  their  plan  of 
JL\.  revolt  was  carried  on  by  the  Council  with  so  calm  a 
gravity,  there  was  enough  of  energy  and  of  quick  movement 
when  their  deliberations  came  to  an  end;  and  we  augured  well 
of  the  result  because  they  thus  had  delayed  their  action  until 
their  plan  for  making  it  effective  had  been  fully  matured.  The 
whole  of  that  first  day  in  Huitzilan,  and  much  of  the  following 
night  also,  was  given  to  arranging  clearly  what  must  be  done  in 
order  to  set  up  a  temporary  government  and  to  get  an  army 
together. 

During  this  period  we  had  ample  time  to  look  around  us; 
and,  being  now  upon  a  most  friendly  footing  with  the  strange 
people  among  whom  we  thus  strangely  found  ourselves,  we  were 
heartily  aided  in  investigating  the  manner  of  their  lives.  In  many 
matters,  to  be  sure,  they  fell  far  behind  the  remainder  of  the 
civilized  world;  but  a  large  part  of  the  useful  knowledge  that 
has  been  gained  by  study  under  civilized  conditions  elsewhere 
we  found  here  also  as  the  fruit  of  independent  discovery.  In 
many  cases  the  discovery  was  identical  in  every  respect  with  our 
own.  In  the  matter  of  hardening  gold,  and  thereafter  giving  it 
all  the  qualities  of  tempered  steel,  they  had  made  a  step  that  was 
distinctly  in  advance  of  anything  which  our  metallurgists  had 
accomplished;  and  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  the  belief  that — at 
least  among  the  priests — knowledge  had  been  gained  of  a  process 
quite  unlike  that  known  to  us  for  producing  a  gold  fulminate.  I 
was  not  so  fortunate  as  to  gain  more  knowledge  of  this  matter 
than  could  be  learned  from  hearsay,  but  from  several  sources 
I  heard  of  the  splitting  asunder  of  a  certain  great  rock  by  the 
Priest  Captain — which  wonder  was  accompanied  by  a  thunderous 
noise  and  a  gleam  of  flame  and  a  bursting  forth  of  smoke — 
whereby  he  was  considered  to  have  proved  that  the  aid  of  the 
gods  was  at  his  command.  But  to  my  mind,  and  also  to  Ray- 
burn's,  the  proof  was,  rather,  that  he  had  at  his  command — in 

1 80 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         181 

some  way  that  as  yet  our  chemists  have  not  fathomed — the  aid 
of  a  gold  fulminate  that  could  be  controlled  in  use  as  readily  as 
we  control  gunpowder.  That  this  agent,  whatever  it  might  be, 
was  not  easily  available  was  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  Priest 
Captain  never  had  given  more  than  this  single  exhibition  of  the 
wonders  which  he  could  accomplish  with  it;  and  that  it  then  had 
served  his  purpose  well  was  shown  by  the  obvious  awe  with  which 
all  who  told  me  of  it  spoke  of  the  dreadful  havoc  that  thus  visibly 
was  wrought  by  what  they  termed  the  thunder  of  the  gods. 

Indeed,  a  very  serious  difficulty  that  the  leaders  of  the  revo 
lution  had  to  overcome  was  the  unwillingness  on  the  part  of 
the  people  at  large  to  defy  the  power  of  their  spiritual  chief; 
which  feeling  among  the  upper  classes  was  mainly  because  dis 
obedience  to  the  Priest  Captain  was,  in  effect,  heresy;  while 
among  the  lower  classes  there  was  joined  to  a  like  horror  of 
heresy  a  very  lively  dread  of  the  punishment,  both  temporal 
and  spiritual,  that  the  Priest  Captain  could  bring  upon  them 
because  of  his  intimate  relations  with  the  supernatural  beings 
by  which  the  forces  of  the  world  were  controlled. 

Yet  out  of  this  condition  of  affairs  arose  an  opportunity  that 
Fray  Antonio  was  not  slow  to  make  the  most  of.  Our  coming 
into  the  valley  with  news  of  the  outside  world  that  directly  con 
troverted  the  Priest  Captain's  claim  to  infallibility  gave  a  great 
shock  to  the  religious  faith  of  the  community,  and  so  induced  a 
willingness  to  listen  to  the  preaching  of  a  new  and  purer  creed. 
And  on  the  part  of  those  of  the  Council  who  were  organizing  the 
revolution — among  whom  religion  seemed  to  be  regarded  less 
as  a  vital  fact  than  as  a  matter  of  political  expediency — there 
was  a  strong  disposition  to  encourage  the  spread  of  doctrines 
which  obviously,  by  weakening  the  Priest  Captain's  hold  upon  the 
people,  would  increase  their  own  strength.  Therefore,  Fray 
Antonio  found  himself  free  to  preach  to  this  heathen  multitude 
the  glorious  Christian  faith;  and  that  he  was  granted  this  most 
rare  and  signal  opportunity  so  filled  and  exalted  his  soul  with  a 
radiantly  joyful  thankfulness  that  he  was  as  one  transformed. 
Like  a  pure  flame,  the  doctrine  that  he  preached  ran  through 
that  host  of  the  heathen. 

Yet  the  very  fervor  of  Fray  Antonio's  preaching,  and  the 


1 82        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

strong  hold  that  the  gentle  doctrine  which  he  set  forth  took 
upon  the  hearts  of  the  multitude,  tended  also  to  stir  up  against 
him  a  lively  enmity  among  those  who,  refusing  to  hearken  to 
him,  remained  steadfast  in  the  ancient  faith.  I  was  filled  with 
dread  that  hate  so  malignant  as  here  was  shown  must  surely  find 
expression  in  a  direct  attempt  upon  his  life.  Fortunately,  there 
no  longer  were  any  priests  among  us.  Of  these  there  had  been 
a  considerable  number  in  Huitzilan  upon  our  first  coming  there, 
but  silently,  one  by  one,  they  had  disappeared — going,  as  we  well 
knew,  to  join  themselves  to  the  force  which  the  Priest  Captain 
was  gathering  against  the  time  when  the  issue  between  us  would 
be  settled  by  the  arbitration  of  arms.  And  those  who  went  from 
our  camp  to  his  must  have  carried  with  them  news  of  the  peril 
that  menaced  the  ancient  faith  through  the  new  faith  that  Fray 
Antonio  preached  so  zealously  in  such  burning  words;  for  of 
his  knowledge  of  what  Fray  Antonio  was  doing,  and  of  his  ctread 
of  what  might  therefrom  result,  we  presently  had  proof  in  a  way 
that  filled  our  hearts  with  a  very  dismal  fear. 

So  far  as  the  setting  up  of  a  government  was  concerned,  the 
matter  was  comparatively  easy;  for  the  majority  of  the  Council 
had  come  out  with  us  from  Culhuacan,  and  these  had  but  to 
adapt  to  the  requirements  of  the  new  situation  the  governmental 
machinery  that  already  was  established  and  at  their  command. 
And  they  were  surprised  pleasurably  by  finding  how  readily  this 
transformation  was  effected;  for  among  the  higher  classes — 
from  which  classes  the  officials  of  the  government  exclusively 
were  drawn — the  feeling  of  hatred  against  the  Priest  Captain, 
begotten  of  his  many  acts  of  cruelty  and  oppression,  was  so 
strong  that  the  opportunity  now  offered  to  turn  against  him  was 
seized  upon  most  gladly.  In  every  town  throughout  the  valley 
the  emissaries  of  the  Council  were  warmly  welcomed;  and  pres 
ently  the  new  government  was  established  everywhere  save  in 
the  capital  city  and  in  certain  villages  upon  the  lake  border  lying 
close  beneath  its  walls. 

The  work  of  organizing  an  army,  however,  was  a  more  diffi 
cult  matter;  for  very  serious  obstacles,  both  moral  and  material, 
had  to  be  overcome  before  we  of  the  revolutionary  faction  could 
place  an  effective  fighting  force  in  the  field.  Of  what  I  may  term 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         183 

regular  troops,  that  is  to  say,  thoroughly  drilled  and  disciplined 
soldiers,  we  could  count  upon  but  few ;  for,  practically  the  whole 
body  of  the  army  had  remained  faithful  to  the  Priest  Captain 
and  was  with  him  in  Culhuacan. 

As  the  nucleus  of  our  army  we  had  the  corps  that  Tizoc  com 
manded,  the  highly  organized  body  of  troops  charged  with  the 
important  duty  of  guarding  the  Barred  Pass;  and  we  had  also 
the  few  hundreds  of  men  who  had  come  out  with  us  from  Cul 
huacan.  From  these  sources  we  were  able  to  draw  officers  to 
command  the  irregular  force,  largely  made  up  of  Tlahuicos,  that 
the  Council  rapidly  got  together;  while  for  the  organizing  of  the 
main  body  of  our  troops,  the  savages  who  worked  in  the  mine, 
the  bold  stroke  was  made  of  mingling  them  with  the  men  who, 
until  then,  had  been  their  most  relentless  enemies — the  soldiers 
who  had  served  as  their  guards. 

Of  all  the  disabilities  under  which  we  then  labored,  the  most 
serious  was  the  lack  of  an  adequate  supply  of  arms.  The  great 
arsenal  of  the  Aztlanecas  was  in  Culhuacan;  and  thus  nearly 
the  whole  of  the  supply  of  munitions  of  war  in  the  valley  was 
in  the  Priest  Captain's  hands.  Fortunately,  the  shipment  of 
hardened  gold  that  we  had  intercepted — by  landing  at  the  pier 
whence  in  a  few  hours  it  would  have  been  despatched  to  the 
Treasure-house — gave  us  a  good  supply  of  raw  material  out  of 
which  spear-heads,  and  the  heads  of  darts,  and  swords  could 
be  made ;  and  night  and  day  the  forges  blazed  in  Huitzilan  while 
the  manufacture  of  these  weapons  went  on.  Of  bows  and  arrows 
it  was  not  possible  to  make  many  in  that  short  time,  but  of 
slings  there  was  no  difficulty  in  making  enough  to  supply  our 
entire  force — and  among  these  people,  who  are  wonderfully  skil 
ful  in  the  use  of  it,  the  sling  is  a  most  deadly  implement  of  war. 
We  lacked  time,  also,  to  make  any  large  number  of  shields,  and 
our  deficiency  in  this  respect  was  regarded  by  Tizoc,  and  by  all 
the  military  officers  who  were  with  us,  as  a  most  serious  matter; 
for  not  only  would  our  men  without  shields  be  the  more  easily 
slain  in  battle,  but  their  fighting  value  would  be  lessened  by  their 
consciousness  that  they  were  without  this  piece  of  furniture  that 
all  savage  races  hold  to  be  so  necessary  in  war. 

However,  of  defensive  armor  we  had  a  good  supply,  for  it 


1 84        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

chanced  that  in  the  Citadel  there  was  a  great  store  of  cotton 
cloth,  suitable  for  making  long  kirtles  of  many  thicknesses  of 
cloth  quilted  together;  which  kirtles  were  arrow  proof,  and  well 
protected  a  man  from  his  neck  downward  almost  to  his  knees. 
Young  was  disposed  to  think  but  lightly  of  this  curious  armor, 
but  when  Tizoc,  to  convince  him  of  its  utility,  demonstrated  its 
power  to  resist  a  well-pointed  arrow  shot  at  very  short  range 
he  was  forced  to  confess  its  entire  applicability  to  the  purpose 
for  which  it  was  designed. 

Indeed,  excepting  only  Fray  Antonio,  who  saw  in  warfare 
only  the  wickedness  and  the  cruelty  of  it,  we  all  were  most  eager 
for  our  inaction  to  end,  and  for  the  battling  to  begin  that  would 
give  us  opportunity  to  let  the  life  out  of  some  of  those  by  whom 
Pablo  had  been  slain.  It  was  with  delight,  therefore,  that  we 
noted  the  rapidity  with  which  the  preparations  for  the  impending 
campaign  were  carried  forward,  and  saw  how  each  day  the  dis 
orderly  host  that  had  been  gathered  at  Huitzilan  was  changing 
from  a  confused  mass  of  good  fighting  material  into  a  body  fairly 
well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  war.  It  was,  in  truth,  astonishing 
to  us — for  we  could  not  well  comprehend  how  essentially  warlike 
were  the  instincts  of  this  people,  and  how  quick,  therefore,  they 
must  be  in  military  matters — to  observe  the  promptness  that  was 
shown  in  getting  our  army  in  readiness  for  the  field.  And  with 
our  astonishment  came  also  a  comforting  conviction  that  the 
force  that  could  be  so  quickly,  and,  as  it  seemed,  so  effectively 
organized,  must  surely  hold  well  together,  and  fight  well  to 
gether,  when  the  hour  for  fighting  came. 


Chapter  XXFII 


"CURING  the  time  that  our  various  preparations  thus  went 
JJ   forward  we  had  no  direct  news  from  the  stronghold  of 


the  enemy ;  yet  many  vague  rumors  reached  us  of  the  army  that 
was  being  set  in  order  there  to  take  the  field  against  us.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  constant  departure  from  among  us  of  those  who 
were  loyal  to  the  ancient  government  kept  the  Priest  Captain 
well  informed  of  all  that  was  in  progress  in  our  camp.  No  effort 
was  made  by  the  Council  to  prevent  these  departures,  for  all 
of  our  plans  were  working  so  well,  and  our  forces  were  increas 
ing  so  prodigiously,  that  there  might  be  stirred  up  a  very  dan 
gerous  spirit  of  mutiny  within  the  enemy's  lines. 

The  plan  of  campaign  that  the  Council  had  adopted  struck  me 
as  being  an  exceedingly  prudent  one.  This  was  that  we  should 
not  attempt  an  attack  upon  the  city  but  should  wait  until  the 
enemy  came  out  to  assail  us,  and  then  meet  him  on  our  own 
chosen  ground.  On  the  side  of  the  enemy,  delay  would  produce 
no  gain,  rather  would  it  tend  to  weaken  the  hold  of  the  Priest 
Captain  upon  those  who  remained  faithful  to  him;  and,  being 
shut  up  with  his  whole  army  and  a  multitude  of  non-combatants 
within  those  great  stone  walls,  a  very  terrible  foe,  against  which 
stone  walls  are  no  defence,  presently  would  attack  him  in  the 
shape  of  hunger. 

It  was  a  very  fortunate  thing  for  us  that  matters  stood  in 
this  way;  for  wellnigh  the  whole  of  the  trained  army  of  the 
Aztlanecas  was  with  the  Priest  Captain,  and  against  this  well- 
disciplined  body  of  men  our  own  hastily  assembled  and  imper 
fectly  organized  army  would  have  made  but  a  poor  showing  had 
we  met  on  equal  terms.  Even  under  the  existing  circumstances, 
so  favorable  in  many  ways  to  our  success,  Tizoc  and  the  other 
military  officers  who  were  with  us  did  not  at  all  disguise  their 
anxiety  as  to  what  might  be  the  outcome  of  the  battle  so  soon 
to  be  fought;  and  especially  did  they  dread  some  well-planned 
stealthy  movement  of  the  enemy,  by  which  our  camp  might  be 

185 


1 86        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

suddenly  set  upon  and  fairly  carried  before  our  own  untrained 
forces  could  be  rallied  from  the  bewilderment  and  confusion  into 
which  they  would  be  thrown  by  the  shock  of  such  surprise. 

Rayburn,  who  had  seen  a  good  deal  of  Indian  fighting  in  his 
time,  fully  shared  in  this  feeling  of  anxiety.  "Indian  fights, 
you  see,"  he  said,  "are  not  like  any  other  kind  of  fights.  The 
side  that  wins  has  got  to  do  it  with  a  whoop  and  a  hurrah. 
Indians  haven't  got  any  staying  power  in  them.  They  can't  hold 
out  against  anybody  who  stands  up  against  them  squarely,  and 
won't  be  scared  by  a  howling  rush  into  running  away. 

"What  bothers  me  about  the  fight  that  we're  going  to  have 
is  that  the  regulars  are  on  the  other  side.  Of  course,  being 
Indians  too,  regulars  like  these  don't  amount  to  much ;  but  they 
are  bound  to  be  a  long  chalk  better  than  this  rowdy  crowd  of 
ours.  We've  got  a  pretty  fair  chance  to  win,  because  we're  in 
a  strong  position,  and  because  our  people  mean  to  wait  until  the 
other  fellows  come  at  'em;  but  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  if  ever  they 
manage  to  get  inside  here,  or  if  ever  we  go  outside  after  them 
— that  is,  while  they're  fresh  and  full  of  fight — it's  bound  to  be 
all  day  with  us.  These  miners,  and  the  rest  of  this  Tlahuico 
outfit,  will  fight  like  wild-cats  as  long  as  they're  on  top,  but 
every  bit  of  fight  will  go  right  out  of  them  the  minute  they  find 
that  they're  beginning  to  get  underneath.  That's  the  Indian 
way.  I'm  trying  hard  to  believe  that  our  crowd  will  whip  the 
other  crowd;  but  I  must  say,  Professor,  that  I'm  not  betting 
on  it." 

"Well,  I'm  bettin'  on  it,  and  bettin'  on  it  high,"  said  Young. 
"I  don't  pretend  t'  know  as  much  about  this  sort  o'  thing  as 
Rayburn  does ;  but  I  do  think  I  know  a  live  devil  when  I  see  one 
— an'  these  miners  are  about  as  lively  an'  about  as  devilly  as  any 
thing  that  ever  broke  loose  from  hell.  Regulars  or  no  regulars, 
these  miners  '11  go  through  'em  like  a  limited  express;  an'  th' 
first  thing  th'  Priest  Captain  knows  we'll  have  walloped  him 
right  smack  out  o'  th'  baggy  things  he  wears  on  his  feet  an' 

thinks  are  boots.  An'  then,  if  there's  any  way  out  o'  this  d n 

valley,  we'll  load  up  with  dollars  an'  pull  out  for  home." 

For  my  own  part,  I  was  not  disposed  to  be  either  so  doubtful 
as  Rayburn  or  so  sanguine  as  Young.  In  what  each  of  them 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        187 

said  there  was  much  truth,  and  my  inference  from  such  of  the 
facts  in  the  case  as  were  within  my  knowledge  and  my  compre 
hension  was  that  the  chances  for  and  against  our  success  were 
very  evenly  divided.  It  seemed  to  me  stupidly  unreasonable, 
however,  that  some  mere  common  brute  of  an  Indian,  by  the 
crude  process  of  splitting  my  skull  open,  might  deprive  me,  and 
through  me  the  scientific  world,  of  the  priceless  knowledge  that 
with  much  effort  I  had  stored  within  my  brain. 

But  all  thought  of  my  own  fortunes,  and  of  this  possible  sud 
den  cutting  of  my  life-strings,  presently  was  thrust  aside  by  the 
inroad  of  another  matter  that  was  of  far  more  serious  moment 
to  me,  inasmuch  as  there  was  involved  in  it  a  menace  against  the 
life  of  one  of  my  companions;  and,  indeed,  this  matter  was  one 
which  startled  our  whole  camp,  for  it  was  nothing  less  than  a 
formal  offer  on  the  part  of  the  Priest  Captain  to  condone  the 
rebellion,  and  to  compromise  with  the  rebels,  on  certain  far 
from  exacting  terms. 

The  envoy  sent  to  treat  with  us  came  in  a  manner  befitting 
his  dignity  and  the  importance  of  his  mission,  having  a  con 
siderable  retinue  with  him  in  his  barge,  ^and  being  himself 
a  grave  and  dignified  man  well  advanced  in  years.  Two  of  our 
guard-boats  accompanied  his  barge  across  the  lake,  and  he  alone 
was  permitted  to  land  in  Huitzilan.  Being  led  before  the  Coun 
cil,  he  delivered  himself  briefly  of  his  message,  and  added  to 
it  neither  argument  nor  comment  of  his  own.  The  Priest  Cap 
tain,  he  said,  desiring  to  avoid  the  shedding  of  blood  among 
brethren,  was  willing  to  forgive  the  wrong  already  committed, 
and  was  willing  even  to  concede  in  part  the  demands  made  by 
the  rebels,  in  consideration  of  the  acceptance  by  those  now  in 
arms  against  him  of  certain  very  easy  terms.  For  his  part,  he 
would  yield  in  so  far  as  to  restore  the  custom  of  permitting 
parents  to  buy  back  their  own  children,  and  so  to  save  them 
from  being  sacrificed  or  from  becoming  slaves;  and  he  would 
withdraw  also  his  claim  to  the  exercise  of  certain  rights  (which 
need  not  here  be  specified)  in  civil  matters,  to  which  a  counter 
claim  was  set  up  by  the  Council.  In  return  for  these  concessions, 
he  demanded  that  the  army  raised  by  the  rebels  should  be  im 
mediately  disbanded;  that  order  should  be  restored  in  Huitzilan 


1 88        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

by  returning  the  miners  to  their  work,  and  the  Tlahuicos  gener 
ally  to  their  masters  throughout  the  valley;  and  that  the  arms 
which  had  been  manufactured  should  be  turned  over  to  the 
keeper  of  the  arsenal  in  Culhuacan.  The  final  demand  made  by 
the  Priest  Captain  related  to  ourselves;  and  the  Council  was 
given  to  understand  that  upon  its  punctual  and  exact  fulfilment 
the  whole  of  the  negotiation  must  depend.  Young  and  Rayburn 
and  I,  the  envoy  said,  must  be  thrust  out  through  the  Barred 
Pass,  whence  we  came,  and  there  left  to  shift  for  ourselves ;  Fray 
Antonio  must  be  without  delay  surrendered — that  the  dreadful 
sin  that  he  had  committed  by  preaching  vile  doctrines,  subversive 
of  the  true  faith,  might  be  punished  in  so  signal  a  manner  that 
the  gods  whom  he  had  outraged  would  be  appeased. 

Both  Fray  Antonio  and  I  were  present  in  the  Council  chamber 
when  the  envoy  delivered  his  message;  and  when  this  final 
demand  was  made  I  turned  towards  him  quickly,  expecting  that 
he  also  would  feel  the  hurt  of  the  blow  which  through  him, 
because  of  my  great  love  for  him,  had  stricken  me  so  grievously. 
But  far  from  being  at  all  cast  down  there  was  upon  his  face 
a  look  of  joyful  elation,  of  rejoicing  triumph. 

Within  the  Council,  and  outside  of  it  also,  when  the  terms 
which  the  envoy  offered  were  spread  abroad,  there  was  at  once 
aroused  a  very  hot  antagonism  between  contending  factions  in 
regard  to  the  wisdom  of  placing  trust  in  the  Priest  Captain's 
promises,  and  to  the  justice  of  yielding  to  his  demands.  So  far 
as  the  Council  was  concerned,  the  slaying  of  Fray  Antonio,  and 
the  expulsion  from  the  valley  of  the  rest  of  us,  were  trifling 
matters  which  well  enough  might  be  conceded  if  thereby  peace 
might  be  secured.  The  matter  of  importance  that  this  body  had 
to  consider  was  how  far  the  Priest  Captain  could  be  trusted  to 
fulfil  promises  made  to  rebels  in  arms,  when  these  same  rebels 
voluntarily  had  submitted  to  disarmament  and  were  at  his  mercy; 
and  on  this  essential  point  the  whole  debate  that  followed  turned. 

The  debate  upon  this  matter  continued  throughout  the  whole 
day  without  any  conclusion  being  arrived  at,  and  we  listened  to 
it — Fray  Antonio  and  I  translating  to  the  others — with  a  very 
earnest  interest,  inasmuch  as  the  outcome  of  it  all  might  be  the 
instant  slaying  of  one  of  us,  and  for  the  rest  of  us  an  imprison- 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         189 

ment  in  wild  fastnesses  among  bleak  mountains  for  what  was 
like  to  be  the  whole  remainder  of  our  lives.  When  night  came, 
and  the  Council,  being  still  unresolved,  broke  off  its  session  until 
the  day  following,  we  came  back  to  our  quarters  and  there  talked 
over  the  situation,  and  not  cheerfully,  among  ourselves. 

"Even  if  these  fellows  understood  algebra,"  said  Rayburn,  "I 
don't  see  how  they  could  get  an  answer  to  the  problem  that 
they're  trying  to  work.  The  size  of  the  business  is  that  half  of 
them  believe  the  Priest  Captain  is  telling  the  truth,  and  the  other 
half  believe  that  he  is  lying.  This  is  a  matter  of  conviction;  it  is 
not  a  thing  that  they  can  argue  about.  As  far  as  I  can  see, 
there  is  nothing  to  prevent  them  from  keeping  on  talking  with 
out  getting  anywhere  for  the  next  twenty  years." 

"Well,  all  I  can  say,"  said  Young,  "is  that  if  they'll  put  me  in 
th'  cab,  an'  let  me  run  their  train  for  'em,  I'll  git  it  up  this  grade 
in  no  time ;  an'  what's  more,  I'll  just  take  it  down  th'  other  side 
o'  th'  divide  a-kitin'  1  If  they're  fools  enough  t'  believe  th'  Priest 
Captain  they're  bound  t'  get  left  th'  worst  kind.  They've  got 
him  in  a  hole  now,  an'  he  knows  it — an'  that's  more'n  they  do, 
t'  judge  from  th'  way  they're  going'  on.  I  did  have  some  respect 
for  that  Council.  So  far,  they've  managed  things  first-rate. 
They've  run  in  advance  o'  their  schedule  right  along,  an'  they've 

kep'  up  a  rattlin'  head  o'  steam  with  mighty  d n  bad  coal. 

But  if  they  really  mean  t'  draw  their  fires,  just  when  they  ought 
t'  put  on  th'  forced  draught  an'  let  her  go  for  all  she's  worth,  I 
must  say  I  haven't  any  more  use  for  'em.  Seein'  'em  shilly- 
shallyin'  around  like  they're  doin'  now,  when  they  ought  t'  be 
takin'  their  coats  off  an'  sailin'  in,  just  makes  me  sick  I" 

Fray  Antonio  somewhat  surprised  me  by  asking  me  to  trans 
late  to  him  what  Young  and  Rayburn  had  been  saying;  and 
when  he  had  heard  it  all  he  was  silent  for  a  while,  and  evidently 
was  engaged  in  earnest  thought.  At  last,  speaking  very  gravely, 
he  asked  us  if  we  greatly  feared  being  thrust  out  from  the  valley 
in  case  the  Council  decided  to  accept  the  Priest  Captain's  terms. 
Would  living  there,  he  asked,  be  any  worse  for  us  than  living 
where  we  then  were — where  we  were  equally  shut  in  ?  And  even 
supposing  that  the  war  ended  in  victory  for  us,  and  that  our 
allies  gave  us  entire  freedom  of  action,  what  more  could  we  do 


1 90        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

than  end  our  days  in  the  Valley  of  Aztlan,  or  else  go  back  to  that 
other  valley  and  search  for  an  outlet  thence  whereby  we  could 
get  into  an  open  way  among  the  mountains,  and  so  once  more 
to  our  homes?  And  then,  still  denying  us  opportunity  to  answer, 
he  went  on  to  speak  of  the  pain  and  misery  and  despairing  sorrow 
that  the  threatened  war  would  bring;  and  then,  more  gently,  of 
the  duty  that  pressed  upon  us  of  averting  this  calamity,  that 
was  also  a  crime,  even  though  to  do  so  we  must  sacrifice  hopes 
and  wishes  very  dear  to  our  hearts. 

"What  th'  dickens  is  th'  Padre  drivin*  at,  anyway?"  Young 
exclaimed;  "I  don't  ketch  on  at  all." 

"No  more  do  I,"  said  Rayburn.  "It's  a  first-rate  sermon 
that  he's  giving  us,  but  I  don't  see  where  he  means  the  moral 
of  it  to  fetch  up." 

For  myself,  so  closely  were  Fray  Antonio  and  I  bound  to 
gether  by  bonds  of  sympathy,  I  saw  but  too  plainly  what  he 
meant  should  be  the  outcome  of  his  discourse;  and  I  was  not 
surprised,  therefore,  when  he  unfolded  to  us  the  whole  of  the 
plan  that  he  had  been  forming  within  his  mind.  His  desire  was: 
that,  of  our  own  free-will,  we  should  retire  from  the  valley  by 
the  way  that  we  came  thither,  and  so  leave  the  Council  free  to 
accept  unhesitatingly  the  Priest  Captain's  terms. 

"And  what  of  yourself?"  I  asked;  for  I  felt  within  me  a 
strong  conviction  that  for  himself  he  had  in  view  a  very  dif 
ferent  fate. 

He  hesitated  for  a  moment  before  answering  me,  and  his  color 
changed  a  little  as  he  replied,  in  a  voice  that  was  very  low,  and 
at  the  same  time  very  clear  and  firm:  "I  shall  go  to  the  Priest 
Captain,  in  Culhuacan!" 

"And  so  go  to  your  death,"  I  said,  speaking  brokenly,  for  the 
pain  that  his  words  caused  me  went  through  me  like  a  knife- 
thrust. 

"Say,  rather,"  Fray  Antonio  answered,  "that  I  go  to  win  the 
life,  glorious  and  eternal,  into  which  neither  death  nor  sin  nor 
sorrow  evermore  can  cornel" 


Chapter  XXFIII 

TT/"NOWING  as  I  did  Fray  Antonio's  resolute  nature,  and 
JL^.  understanding  far  more  clearly  than  it  was  possible  for 
the  others  to  understand  the  heroic  impulses  which  stirred  within 
him,  I  took  no  part  in  the  attempt  that  they  then  made  to  oppose 
the  purpose  which  he  had  declared.  But  no  more  by  entreaty 
than  by  argument  was  Fray  Antonio  to  be  moved. 

And,  in  truth,  there  was  a  logical  consistency  in  what  he  urged 
in  answer  to  us  that,  much  though  we  might  resent  it,  we  yet 
were  compelled  to  respect.  He  had  come  with  us,  he  said,  for 
the  single  purpose  of  preaching  the  saving  grace  of  Christianity 
to  heathen  souls  which  otherwise  would  perish  utterly  in  their 
idolatry.  It  was  evident,  he  urged,  that  should  there  be  war 
in  the  valley  the  chance  for  the  further  spread  of  Christian  doc 
trine  would  be  scant;  for  the  seed  that  he  had  sown,  and  that 
already  was  well  rooted  in  many  hearts,  would  die  quickly  and  be 
utterly  lost.  But  if  the  war  could  be  averted,  not  only  would 
these  people  be  spared  the  misery  that  war  must  bring  upon 
them,  and  the  crime  also  of  slaying  each  other,  but  their  hearts 
would  remain  open  to  the  doctrine  that  he  had  taught;  and  his 
willingness — should  such  sacrifice  be  necessary — to  yield  his  life 
that  peace  might  be  preserved,  would  force  upon  them  strongly 
the  conviction,  tending  thus  to  their  own  strengthening,  of  his 
faithful  trust  in  the  creed  which  he  avowed.  And  it  well  might 
happen,  he  said,  that  such  grace  would  be  given  him  that  even 
within  the  very  stronghold  of  the  heathen  faith  he  might  win 
souls  to  the  purer  faith  which  it  was  his  glorious  privilege  to 
preach  and  still  remain  unharmed. 

Rayburn  was  far  from  willing  to  yield  to  this  line  of  argu 
ment;  yet  he  understood  it,  as  I  did  also,  and  perceived  that  it 
was  the  only  logical  outcome  of  the  only  premises  which  Fray 
Antonio  would  recognize.  Young,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not  in 
the  least  understand  it,  and  Fray  Antonio's  reasoning  simply 
threw  him  into  a  rage. 

191 


1 92        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

"It's  all  d n  nonsense,"  he  safd,  "for  th'  Padre  t'  talk 

about  his  duty  towards  a  set  o'  critters  like  th'  Priest  Captain's 
crowd.  Oh,  I  say,  Professor,  we've  got  t'  stop  this.  Th'  Padre's 
off  his  head,  that's  all  there  is  to  it;  an'  we've  got  t'  look  after 
him  till  he  braces  up  an'  gets  sensible  again.  I'll  do  anything 

reasonable  that  he  wants,  but  I'll  be  d d  if  I'm  goin'  t'  stand 

by  doin'  nothin'  while  he  cuts  his  own  throat!" 

Young  was  quite  ready,  I  am  sure,  to  resort  to  the  radical 
measure  of  clapping  Fray  Antonio  into  a  straitjacket.  And  that 
Fray  Antonio  anticipated  such  a  conflict  was  shown  by  his  tak 
ing  effective  measures  to  render  it  impossible.  During  the  re 
mainder  of  that  day  he  steadfastly  refused  to  discuss  the  matter 
further;  not  harshly,  but  by  shifting  away  into  other  channels  our 
earnest  talk.  Only  at  night,  before  we  lay  down  to  sleep,  of  his 
own  motion  he  turned  once  more  to  the  matter;  and  when  he 
briefly  had  exhibited  to  us  again  the  motives  which  urged  him 
forward  upon  a  way  so  perilous,  he  begged  that  we  would  not 
think  ill  of  his  insisting  upon  traversing  our  wishes,  but  that 
once  more  we  would  clasp  hands  with  him  in  sign  of  our  for 
giveness  and  continued  love. 

For  my  own  part,  I  was  well  convinced  that  Fray  Antonio 
meant  then  to  say  good-bye  to  us;  and  for  a  long  while,  as  I 
lay  awake  that  night,  my  thoughts  went  backward  over  the  time 
that  we  had  been  companions  together,  and  so  dwelt  upon  the 
faithfulness  of  his  friendship,  and  upon  his  gallant  bearing  in 
all  times  of  peril,  and  upon  the  pure  and  perfect  holiness  which 
characterized  his  every  act  and  word.  And  at  last,  worn  out  by 
my  own  grief,  I  fell  into  a  troubled  sleep. 

The  faint  gray  light  of  early  morning  shone  dimly  in  the  room 
as  Rayburn  awakened  me  by  shaking  my  arm;  and  the  first 
words  which  he  spoke  to  me  were,  "The  Padre  is  not  here!" 

As  I  roused  myself  fully,  and  sat  up  and  looked  into  his  face, 
I  saw  by  the  look  that  he  gave  me  how  fully  he  shared  the 
dread  that  was  in  my  heart.  Young  still  was  sleeping,  and  we 
waited  to  rouse  him  until  we  should  make  sure  that  what  we 
feared  must  be  the  truth  really  was  true.  Together  we  went 
out  quietly  into  the  court-yard  and  so  to  the  main  entrance  of 
the  building,  where  a  guard  was  stationed.  But  this  man  was 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        193 

asleep;  and  when  I  wakened  him,  and  questioned  him  as  to 
whether  the  monk  had  gone  forth,  he  could  give  me  no  answer. 
Therefore  we  went  on  to  the  gate  of  the  Citadel — which  gate, 
being  a  vastly  heavy  grating,  raised  and  lowered  by  chains,  was 
not  usually  closed  even  at  night — in  the  hope  that  there  we  might 
gain  some  certain  knowledge.  And  here  also  we  found  all  of 
the  half-dozen  men  on  guard  slumbering,  saving  only  one  man, 
who  seemed  to  have  been  aroused  by  the  sound  of  our  foot 
steps,  and  who  raised  himself  on  one  elbow  and  looked  at  us  with 
a  sleepy  curiosity. 

Even  the  urgency  of  the  quest  that  we  were  upon  did  not 
suffice  to  distract  our  attention  from  the  peril  that  we  all  were 
in  because  of  the  slumbering  of  these  sentries.  "If  this  is  a 
specimen  of  the  way  all  the  watches  are  kept,"  Rayburn  said, 
angrily,  "we  stand  a  pretty  good  chance  of  being  murdered  in 
our  beds.  It  all  comes  of  trying  to  make  soldiers  out  of  sav 
ages.  These  Tlahuicos  will  fight  well  enough,  I  never  doubted 
that,  but  to  put  such  men  on  guard  is  simple  idiocy.  They  have 
been  slaves  all  their  lives,  and  they  haven't  the  least  notion  in 
the  world  of  personal  responsibility.  It's  a  lucky  thing  that  we 
have  found  out  their  methods,  for  I  shall  give  the  Colonel  a 
talking  to  about  putting  on  guard  some  of  his  own  men  who  can 
be  trusted.  It's  clear  that  these  fellows  cannot  tell  us  anything. 
We'd  better  keep  on  down  to  the  landing;  if  the  Padre  has 
gone" — there  was  a  sudden  break  in  Rayburn's  voice  as  he  said 
these  words — "it's  pretty  certain  that  he  has  gone  by  water,  and 
we  may  come  across  somebody  down  there  who  happened  to  be 
awake  and  saw  him  start." 

There  were  slight  signs  of  wakefulness  beginning  to  show 
themselves  as  we  went  down  towards  the  waterside;  a  few 
doors  already  were  open ;  here  and  there  thin  threads  of  smoke 
curled  upward  through  the  still  air;  around  a  fountain  a  half- 
dozen  women  were  clustered,  drawing  water  in  great  earthen 
pots,  and  chattering  together  softly  in  half-drowsy  talk.  At 
the  pier,  however,  we  found  some  people  who  really  were  wide 
awake:  fishermen  just  returned  with  a  boat-load  of  fish  that 
they  had  caught  in  the  lake.  And  these,  when  I  questioned 
them,  in  a  moment  resolved  all  of  our  troubled  doubts  into  a 


i94        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

sad  certainty.  Only  an  hour  before,  as  they  lay  out  on  the  lake, 
a  canoe  had  passed  them  paddled  by  a  single  Indian,  and  in  the 
canoe  they  had  plainly  recognized  Fray  Antonio.  It  was  impos 
sible  that  they  should  be  mistaken,  they  declared,  for  the  habit 
which  the  monk  wore  made  him  very  plainly  recognizable;  and 
they  had  observed  him  with  a  particular  care,  for  they  had  been 
greatly  surprised  by  perceiving  that  the  canoe  was  heading  di 
rectly  for  "the  great  city" — by  which  name  all  save  the  priests 
were  accustomed  to  speak  of  Culhuacan. 

Neither  Rayburn  nor  I  spoke,  as  we  walked  back  together 
through  the  town  to  the  Citadel.  Our  hearts  were  altogether 
too  full  for  words.  Even  I,  who  had  been  in  part  prepared  for 
Fray  Antonio's  departure  by  the  tenor  of  his  speech  with  us  the 
night  before,  had  not  anticipated  his  going  from  us  so  suddenly 
to  what  surely  must  be  his  death ;  and  to  Rayburn  his  departure 
came  with  the  startling  force  of  a  heavy  and  unexpected  blow. 
Young  was  awake  when  we  returned,  and  was  in  much  anxiety 
concerning  us;  for  our  custom  at  all  times  was  to  hold  closely 
together,  and  he  knew  that  something  out  of  the  common  must 
have  happened  to  make  us  break  through  this  very  necessary 
rule;  and  his  fears  were  further  aroused  when  he  perceived 
the  sad  gravity  of  our  faces,  and  that  Fray  Antonio  was  not 
in  our  company.  Yet,  though  thus  prepared  to  learn  that  evil 
of  some  sort  had  overtaken  us,  he  was  not  at  all  prepared  to 
learn  how  great  that  evil  was.  When,  therefore,  we  told  him 
of  what  we  had  discovered,  which  gave  absolute  assurance  that 
Fray  Antonio  had  carried  out  his  purpose  of  surrendering  him 
self  into  the  Priest  Captain's  hands,  Young  stared  at  us  for  a 
moment  in  a  dazed  sort  of  way,  as  though  by  no  means  grasping 
the  meaning  which  our  words  conveyed.  And  then  the  whole 
meaning  of  them  seemed  to  come  to  him  suddenly,  and  he  burst 
forth  into  such  a  raving  volley  of  curses  that  it  seemed  as  though 
he  were  fairly  maddened  by  his  ungoverned  rage. 

I  envied  Young,  as  I  am  sure  Rayburn  did  also,  the  relief 
that  must  come  to  him  with  this  rough  but  frank  and  natural 
expression  of  his  bitter  grief.  For  ourselves,  we  stood  sad  and 
silent,  yet  with  our  hearts  almost  breaking  within  us,  as  we 
thought  how  small  was  the  chance  that  ever  in  this  world  should 
we  see  the  face  of  Fray  Antonio  again. 


Chapter  XXIX 

NEITHER  the  Council,  in  its  irresolute  parleyings,  nor  Fray 
Antonio,  in  his  resolute  action,  had  at  all  considered  cer 
tain  factors  which  they  themselves  had  interjected  into  the  prob 
lem.  The  Council,  at  a  stroke,  had  transformed  the  Tlahuicos 
into  soldiers,  and  had  given  the  promise  that  in  reward  for  their 
faithfulness  and  valor  these  slaves  thenceforward  should  be 
freemen.  Fray  Antonio  had  preached  to  all  those  assembled 
at  Huitzilan  a  creed  that  had  taken  strong  hold  upon  many 
hearts,  and  that  especially  had  won  the  hearts  of  those  of  the 
long-oppressed  servile  class — to  whom  its  doctrine  of  equality 
seemed  to  hold  out  an  absolute  assurance  that  their  life  of  slavery 
was  at  an  end. 

When,  therefore,  the  terms  which  the  Priest  Captain  offered 
were  spread  abroad  a  very  lively  anger  was  aroused  because  such 
terms  should  even  be  listened  to.  For  what  the  Priest  Captain 
demanded  was  that  the  apostle  of  the  new  religion  should  be 
relinquished  to  him  to  be  slain  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  Aztec  gods, 
and  that  once  more  the  Tlahuicos  should  be  thrust  back  into 
slavery;  while  what  he  conceded — in  that  it  affected  only  the 
higher  classes — made  the  lot  of  the  Tlahuicos  but  the  more  un 
justly  cruel  and  hard  to  bear. 

And  those  who  resented  the  delay  on  the  part  of  the  Council 
in  sending  back  the  Priest  Captain's  envoy  with  a  sharp  denial, 
presently  went  on  from  hot  words  to  violent  deeds ;  being  directly 
led  from  mutinous  talk  to  mutinous  action  by  the  knowledge 
that  the  Council  had  so  far  accepted  the  offered  terms  as  to  send 
Fray  Antonio  to  the  great  city  to  be  slain — for  not  one  among 
them  could  be  led  for  a  moment  to  believe,  so  impossible  from 
their  stand-point  did  such  an  act  appear,  that  the  monk  truly 
had  gone  thither  of  his  own  free-will. 

Practically,  the  whole  army  was  involved  in  the  movement 
that  then  took  place.  Therefore  it  was,  on  the  day  that  Fray 
Antonio  departed  from  us,  that  all  the  soldiers  together  marched 


196        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

in  from  their  camp  and  massed  themselves  compactly  about  the 
Council  Chamber  within  the  Citadel,  and  then  with  loud  cries 
demanded  that  the  envoy  should  be  sent  back  to  the  great  city 
with  an  absolute  refusal  of  the  offered  terms.  Thus  was  there 
created  a  rebellion  within  a  rebellion;  and  one  that  the  Council 
was  powerless  to  put  down,  for  the  reason  that  practically  the 
whole  of  the  force  which  it  had  created  to  serve  against  the 
enemy  was  now  risen  against  its  own  authority  with  a  most  mas 
terful  strength. 

In  the  case  that  thus  was  presented  there  was  no  opportunity 
to  temporize.  The  fierce,  wild  creatures  of  whom  soldiers  sud 
denly  had  been  made  stood  there  before  the  Council  Chamber, 
shouting  and  waving  their  spears  angrily  and  clashing  together 
their  arms.  And  so  they  continued,  without  one  moment  of 
quiet,  until  their  will  was  obeyed.  Through  the  savage  and 
tumultuous  throng  the  envoy  was  led  forth — his  looks  showing 
plainly  his  very  natural  expectation  that  his  life  would  be  let  out 
of  him  amid  that  ferocious  company — and  so  down  to  the  water 
side;  and  thence  was  sent  back  again  to  Culhuacan  with  the  firm 
assurance — which  message  of  defiance  the  soldiers  themselves 
dictated — that  the  terms  offered  by  the  Priest  Captain  would  be 
accepted  only  when  all  the  Tlahuicos  then  risen  together  in  arms 
against  him  had  been  slain! 

The  sharp  excitement  attendant  upon  this  vigorous  action 
gave  place,  as  the  day  wore  on,  to  a  dull  heavy  pain  as  our 
thoughts  dwelt  upon  the  fate  that  Fray  Antonio  had  gone  forth 
to  meet,  and  upon  our  present  powerlessness  to  defend  him  in 
any  way  against  it.  Although  the  envoy  had  been  sent  back,  and 
war  was  now  resolutely  determined  upon,  the  situation  remained 
unchanged  in  so  far  as  concerned  the  necessity  of  our  waiting 
for  the  Priest  Captain  to  take  the  initiative.  Yet  this  dull  inac 
tion  of  waiting  was  a  source  of  grave  danger  to  us,  in  that  it 
tended  to  wear  out  the  spirits  of  our  men  and  to  make  them  still 
more  careless  of  their  guard.  What  Rayburn  and  I  had  seen 
that  morning  had  shown  how  little  trust  could  be  placed  in  them, 
in  so  far  as  the  soldierly  attribute  of  watchfulness  was  con 
cerned;  and  Tizoc,  with  whom  we  conferred  in  regard  to  this 
important  matter,  had  little  to  say  that  we  found  comforting. 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE         197 

The  few  regular  troops  in  our  little  army  were  not  enough  to 
do  sentry  duty  everywhere,  and  the  best  that  could  be  done  would 
be  to  dispose  them  at  the  points  most  open  to  attack — "And 
then  trust  to  luck,"  Rayburn  put  in,  rather  bitterly,  "that  the 
enemy  will  be  polite  enough  to  try  to  surprise  only  the  part  of  the 
camp  where  the  sentries  are  awake  1" 

We  walked  out  together  in  the  late  afternoon  to  the  rocky 
heights  of  the  promontory  that  on  the  western  side  of  the  town 
extended  far  into  the  lake.  From  a  military  stand-point  this 
position  was  of  great  importance  to  us,  inasmuch  as  bowmen 
or  slingmen  gaining  access  to  it  could  command  a  considerable 
part  of  the  town,  and  even  could  annoy  very  seriously  the  gar 
rison  of  the  Citadel;  and  it  also  was  of  value  to  us  as  a  place  of 
lookout. 

We  were  surprised,  therefore,  when  we  had  come  well  out 
upon  the  promontory,  that  no  sentinel  challenged  us;  but  our 
surprise  vanished  a  moment  or  two  later  as  we  perceived  one  of 
our  men  curled  up  comfortably  against  a  sunny  rock  and  ap 
parently  sound  asleep.  However,  as  we  got  close  to  the  man 
it  was  clear  to  us  that  his  sleep  was  one  that  he  never  would 
waken  from,  for  a  pool  of  blood  stained  the  rock  beside  him, 
and  an  arrow  was  shot  fairly  through  his  heart.  We  made  but 
a  short  stop  beside  this  fellow — who  plainly  had  been  shot  in 
his  sleep,  and  so  deserved  the  fate  that  had  overtaken  him — 
and  then  went  forward  anxiously  that  we  might  see  how  the  other 
sentinels  stationed  hereabouts  had  fared.  The  result  of  our 
quest  was  as  bad  as  it  could  be;  for  in  one  place  or  another 
among  the  rocks  we  found  all  five  of  the  men  who  had  been 
posted  upon  the  promontory,  and  all  of  them  were  dead.  Three 
more  of  them  certainly  had  been  shot  while  asleep  or  wholly 
off  their  guard,  as  was  shown  by  the  easy  attitudes  in  which  we 
found  them  sitting  or  lying  among  the  rocks.  The  fifth  had  not 
been  instantly  killed;  as  we  inferred  from  finding  a  broken  arrow 
sticking  in  his  left  arm,  and  some  signs  of  a  struggle  about  where 
he  lay,  and  a  great  split  in  his  skull,  as  from  a  sword  stroke,  that 
finally  had  let  the  life  out  of  him.  It  struck  us  as  strange  that 
this  man  had  not  aroused  the  camp  with  his  shouts;  but  his  post 
was  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  promontory,  so  that  he  must 


ig8        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

have  called  very  loudly  in  order  to  be  heard;  and  it  was  pos 
sible  that  in  the  suddenness  of  his  danger  he  never  thought  to 
call  at  all.  However,  the  important  matter,  so  far  as  we  were 
concerned,  was  that  these  five  sentinels  had  been  slain  close  be 
side  the  town  and  in  broad  daylight,  and  that  but  for  the  chance 
of  our  coming  out  upon  the  promontory  the  most  important  of 
our  outposts  would  have  remained  unguarded  until  the  night 
relief  should  have  come  on.  It  was  Rayburn's  theory  that  the 
plan  of  the  enemy  was  to  place  his  own  men  on  the  vacant  posts 
— trusting  to  the  reasonable  certainty  that  in  the  dusk  of  eve 
ning  one  naked  Indian  would  look  much  like  another — and  so 
dispatch  the  relief,  one  by  one,  as  the  guard  was  changed. 

Of  those  of  the  enemy  who  had  accomplished  this  piece  of 
work  so  skilfully  we  could  see  no  sign — unless  it  were  a  boat 
that  we  dimly  saw  a  long  way  off  on  the  lake,  and  that  pres 
ently  wholly  disappeared  in  a  bank  of  haze.  Having  made 
sure  by  carefully  searching  among  the  rocks  throughout  the 
length  of  the  promontory  that  none  of  the  enemy  was  hidden 
there,  we  hastened  back  to  the  town  to  tell  what  we  had  come 
upon,  and  to  provide  for  mounting  fresh  sentinels  in  the  place  of 
those  who  had  been  relieved  by  death.  We  had  expected  that  the 
news  which  we  brought  would  stir  up  a  great  commotion;  and 
we  were  not  a  little  troubled,  therefore,  knowing  how  serious  the 
matter  was  in  its  exhibition  of  the  carelessness  of  our  guards, 
by  finding  that  only  Tizoc  and  a  few  other  tried  soldiers  were 
more  than  lightly  discomposed  by  what  we  had  to  tell.  Ap 
parently  neither  the  Council  nor  the  higher  officers  of  the  army 
had  the  power  to  remedy  this  dangerous  condition  of  affairs.  At 
no  time  had  any  very  strong  authority  been  exercised  over  the 
Tlahuicos  and,  since  their  assertion  of  their  will  that  morning, 
what  little  control  had  restrained  their  waywardness  seemed  to 
have  been  wholly  lost. 

However,  as  there  was  a  chance  in  it  of  fighting,  and  as  fight 
ing  was  what  they  longed  for  earnestly,  our  unruly  soldiers  were 
willing  enough  that  a  strong  detachment  should  be  placed  in 
ambush  on  the  promontory,  to  the  end  that  the  force  which 
the  enemy  probably  would  land  there  that  night  might  be  sum 
marily  dealt  with.  And  the  better  to  carry  out  our  plan  of  a 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 


199 


counter-surprise  the  dead  sentinels  were  left  where  we  found 
them.  Tizoc  was  given  the  command  of  the  ambushed  force, 
and  he  willingly  granted  our  request  that  we  might  accompany 
him. 


"IT'S  A  PITY  WE  CAN'T  GET  PHOTOGRAPHED 
NOW,"  HE  SATO 

For  this  expedition  we  put  on  for  the  first  time  our  armor 
of  quilted  cotton  cloth,  and  for  three  American  citizens,  belong 
ing  to  the  nineteenth  century,  we  certainly  presented  a  strange 
appearance,  and  appeared  also  in  very  strange  company,  as  we 


200        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

marched  out  from  the  town  late  that  afternoon  with  Tizoc  and 
his  men.  Each  of  us  carried  half  a  dozen  darts,  and  strapped 
around  our  waists,  outside  our  cotton-cloth  armor,  we  each  wore 
a  maccuahuitl — the  heavy  sword  with  a  jagged  double  edge  that 
we  knew  from  experience  was  an  excellent  weapon  when  wielded 
by  a  strong  hand.  Indeed,  Young  and  I  carried  the  darts  rather 
to  satisfy  Tizoc  than  because  we  expected  to  make  any  very 
effective  use  of  them,  and  all  of  our  reliance  both  for  assault 
and  defence  was  upon  what  we  could  do  with  our  swords  at  close 
quarters.  Rayburn,  however,  had  been  practising  dart-throwing 
very  diligently,  and  as  he  naturally  was  an  extraordinarily  dex 
trous  man  he  had  made  rapid  progress  in  this  savage  art.  The 
soldiers  in  our  company,  naked  creatures,  lithe  and  sinewy,  were 
armed  for  the  most  part  with  spears  and  slings;  and  the  officers 
wore  each  a  sword  and  carried  each  a  handful  of  darts. 

It  was  a  little  before  sunset  when  we  reached  the  place  that 
Tizoc  had  selected  for  our  ambush  upon  the  promontory;  and 
an  hour  later,  just  as  the  shadows  of  evening  were  beginning 
to  fall,  one  of  our  lookout  men  reported  that  a  large  boat— of 
which  the  oars  must  be  muffled,  for  no  sound  came  from  it — 
was  pulling  around  a  point  just  beyond  where  we  lay.  There 
was  a  little  stir  among  our  men  when  this  news  was  received, 
and  a  shifting  and  arranging  of  weapons,  so  that  all  might  be 
in  readiness  when  the  moment  for  opening  the  ambush  came; 
but  we  had  a  picked  force  with  us,  each  man  of  which  fully  un 
derstood  how  necessary  was  silence  to  the  success  of  our  plans, 
and  the  quick  thrill  of  movement  was  so  guarded  that  it  scarcely 
ruffled  the  deep  stillness  of  the  night. 

But  the  moments  lengthened  out  into  minutes,  and  the  min 
utes  slowly  slipped  by  until  a  full  hour  had  passed,  and  the  thick 
darkness  of  tropical  night  was  upon  us,  and  still  there  was  no 
sign  of  a  foe.  Tizoc  grew  uneasy,  for  it  was  evident  that  we 
were  in  error  in  our  conception  of  the  enemy's  plan.  Had  he 
intended  to  mount  his  own  men  as  sentinels  in  place  of  our  men 
whom  he  had  slain,  and  then  get  safe  possession  of  the  prom 
ontory  by  killing  the  relief  as  it  came  on,  we  should  have  been 
long  since  engaged  with  him;  but  here  the  night  was  wearing  on, 
and,  excepting  only  the  boat  that  our  scouts  had  seen,  there  had 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        201 

been  nothing  to  show  that  the  attack  which  we  had  expected 
so  confidently  was  anything  more  than  a  creation  of  our  own 
fears.  Yet  our  only  course  was  to  remain  where  we  were  until 
morning;  for  some  accident  might  have  delayed  the  attack,  and 
the  necessity  of  holding  the  promontory  was  so  urgent  that  we 
could  not  take  the  risk  of  withdrawing  our  force. 

It  was  weary  work  sitting  there  in  the  darkness,  after  all  the 
weariness  of  so  exciting  a  day,  and  as  the  hours  dragged  on  I 
found  myself  now  and  then  sinking  into  a  doze.  I  was  roused 
suddenly  by  Rayburn's  quick  grip  upon  my  shoulder,  and  by  his 
sharp  whisper,  "What's  that?" 

In  an  instant  I  was  thoroughly  awake,  and  as  I  bent  forward 
and  listened  intently  I  heard  very  distinctly  a  faint  cry  of  alarm, 
that  seemed  to  come  from  a  long  way  off.  Tizoc,  I  perceived, 
also  was  most  eagerly  listening;  and  I  heard  a  slight  sound  of 
movement  and  of  arms  clinking  as  our  men  roused  themselves, 
showing  that  they  also  had  heard  that  warning  cry. 

But  in  a  moment  there  was  no  need  to  strain  our  ears  to  catch 
the  sounds  which  came  to  us.  The  cry  that  a  single  throat  had 
uttered  was  taken  up  by  a  thousand ;  and  so  grew  into  a  dull,  dis 
tant  roar,  that  pierced  the  black  and  sullen  stillness  of  the  night. 
And  with  this  came  also  the  higher  notes  of  savage  yells,  and 
then  we  heard  the  clash  of  arms — which  evidence  that  fighting 
was  going  on,  no  less  than  the  direction  whence,  as  we  now  per 
ceived  clearly,  the  sounds  came,  assured  us  that  while  we  had 
maintained  our  watchful  guard  on  the  promontory  the  enemy 
had  surprised  our  camp. 

Rayburn  sprang  up  with  a  growl  like  that  of  a  savage  beast. 

"By  G d!"  he  cried,  "they  meant  us  to  do  just  what  we've 

done,  and  we've  walked  into  their  trap  like  so  many  d n 

fools!" 


Chapter  XXX 

I  was  glad  to  see,  had  his  men  well  under  his  com- 
JL  mand,  as  was  shown  by  the  orderly  manner  in  which  they 
waited,  despite  their  eager  impatience  to  be  off,  until  he  gave  the 
command  to  march.  And  hard  marching  we  found  it,  as  we 
floundered  about  that  rough,  rocky  place,  tripping  and  stum 
bling,  and  now  and  then  hearing  a  crash  in  the  darkness  as  one 
of  our  men  went  down.  But,  somehow  or  other,  we  certainly 
managed  to  get  over  the  ground  very  rapidly;  and  all  tHe  while 
the  sounds  of  the  fight  that  was  raging  hotly  struck  with  a  con 
stantly  increasing  clearness  upon  our  ears. 

The  whole  width  of  the  town  lay  between  our  camp  and  the 
foot  of  the  rugged  path  that  led  down  from  the  promontory; 
but  when  we  were  fairly  in  the  streets,  and  no  longer  had  rough 
rocks  to  stumble  over  in  the  darkness,  we  went  forward  at  a 
very  slashing  pace.  And  we  were  further  helped  now  by  the 
fact  that  day  was  breaking,  so  that  we  could  see  clearly  where 
we  were  going;  and  we  had  also  within  us  that  feeling  of  cheer 
and  encouragement  that  ever  is  given  to  man  by  the  return  of 
the  sun.  In  but  a  few  minutes  more,  in  that  tropical  region,  a 
flood  of  daylight  would  be  about  us;  and  Tizoc's  hope  was  that 
when  the  horror  of  darkness,  ever  appalling  to  barbarians, 
should  be  lifted,  and  when  our  coming  should  afford  a  firm  centre 
to  rally  around,  our  army  might  regain  the  courage  and  steadi 
ness  which  it  had  lost  in  the  terror  and  bewilderment  of  a  night 
surprise. 

But  he  quickly  found  that  this  hope  was  doomed  to  disap 
pointment.  Only  a  little  beyond  the  gate  of  the  Citadel  we  came 
upon  a  flying  body  of  Tlahuicos — though  no  pursuers  were  in 
sight  beyond  them — and  these  were  so  completely  demoralized 
that  they  took  our  company  for  a  detachment  of  the  enemy,  and 
with  wild  cries  fled  away  from  us  down  a  side  street  and  so  dis 
appeared.  ''What  do  you  think  of  your  friends  now?"  Rayburn 

202 


AND  THEN   WE   HEARD  THE  CLASH   OF   ARMS 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        203 

asked  Young,  grimly.     But  Young's  only  answer  was  to  curse 
the  vanished  Tlahuicos  for  cowards. 

A  moment  later  the  whole  street  in  front  of  us  was  filled  with 
a  howling  mob  of  our  men,  and  these  came  surging  towards  us 
with  the  evident  intention  of  seeking  safety  in  the  Citadel.  Tizoc 
saw  at  a  glance  the  hopelessness  of  trying  to  rally  a  rout  like 
this  until  the  terrified  creatures,  fleeing  like  sheep  from  a  pack 
of  wolves,  had  been  given  rest  for  a  while  in  some  safe  place 
where  their  courage  might  return  to  them.  Being  once  within 
the  Citadel  they  would  be  for  a  time  wholly  out  of  danger ;  for 
even  should  the  enemy  try  to  set  scaling-ladders  in  place,  and 
so  break  in  upon  us  there,  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  for  a  few 
determined  men  to  hold  the  walls  until  some  sort  of  order  had 
been  restored  among  our  broken  forces.  Tizoc  therefore 
promptly  wheeled  our  little  force  aside  into  an  open  space,  and  so 
made  a  way  for  the  struggling  crowd  to  sweep  past  us.  We 
noted,  as  the  stream  of  terror-stricken  men  flowed  by,  that  their 
officers  were  not  with  them ;  from  which  Tizoc  drew  the  hopeful 
augury  that  the  officers,  being  all  trained  soldiers,  had  drawn 
together  into  a  rear-guard  that  sought  to  cover  this  wild  retreat. 
And  presently  we  found  that  Tizoc  was  right  in  his  inference,  for 
soon  the  crowd  began  very  perceptibly  to  grow  thinner,  and  the 
sound  of  loud  cries  and  the  rattle  and  clashing  of  arms  rang  out 
above  the  tumult,  and  then  there  came  around  a  turn  in  the  street, 
a  little  beyond  where  we  had  halted,  a  compact  body  of  men  who 
were  falling  back  slowly,  and  who  were  laying  about  them  most 
valiantly  with  their  swords.  Our  party  gave  a  yell,  by  way  of 
putting  fresh  heart  into  these  gallant  fellows,  and  Tizoc  quickly 
disposed  our  company  in  such  a  manner  that  the  retreating  force 
fell  back  through  our  midst;  and  then  we  promptly  closed  in, 
and  so  took  the  fighting  to  ourselves. 

I  cannot  tell  very  clearly  how  our  retreat  to  the  Citadel  was 
managed,  nor  even  of  my  own  part  in  it.  I  can  say  only  that 
foot  by  foot  we  yielded  the  ground  to  the  enemy  that  pressed 
upon  us;  that  wild  shouts  rang  out  together  with  the  sharp 
rattle  of  clashing  swords;  and  that  through  the  roar  of  this  out 
burst  of  fierce  sounds  there  ran  an  undertone  of  groans  and 
sobs  from  the  poor  wretches  who  had  fallen  wounded  to  the 


204        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

ground.  The  one  thing  that  I  remember  clearly  is  a  set-to  with 
swords  that  I  had  with  a  big  fellow,  just  as  we  had  come  close 
to  the  Citadel,  that  ended  in  a  way  (that  would  have  surprised 
him  mightily  had  he  lived  long  enough  to  comprehend  it)  by 
my  finishing  him  by  means  of  a  stop-thrust  followed  by  a  beau 
tiful  draw-cut  that  was  a  famous  stroke  with  my  old  sabre-master 
at  Leipsic. 

As  we  made  a  rush  for  the  gate  of  the  Citadel,  that  we  might 
get  inside  this  place  of  safety  and  drop  the  grating  before  the 
enemy  could  follow  us,  we  were  surprised  by  finding  many  of  our 
own  men  lying  dead  about  the  entrance ;  and  what  was  far  worse 
for  us,  we  found  that  unskilled  hands  had  been  at  work  with  the 
machinery  whereby  the  gate  was  lowered  and  by  their  bungling 
had  managed  to  start  it  downward  in  such  a  way  that  it  had 
jammed  in  the  grooves.  What  actually  had  happened  there,  as 
we  knew  afterwards,  was  that  the  first  of  the  cowardly  wretches 
who  had  entered  the  Citadel  had  tried  to  drop  the  gate  in  the 
faces  of  their  companions  and  so  secure  their  own  safety;  whence 
a  fight  among  themselves  had  sprung  up,  in  course  of  which 
many  of  them  very  deservedly  were  slain,  and,  most  unhappily 
for  us,  their  frantic  efforts  to  lower  the  gate  had  resulted  in  thus 
disabling  it. 

We  had  a  moment  of  breathing  space  before  the  enemy  came 
up  with  us,  and  in  this  time  Rayburn  and  Young  and  I  had  a 
grip  of  each  other's  hands,  in  which,  without  any  words  over  it, 
we  said  good-bye  to  each  other;  for  we  neither  of  us  for  one 
moment  doubted  that  our  last  hour  had  come.  Tizoc  stood  a 
little  distance  from  us,  as  steady  and  as  gallant  in  his  bearing 
as  ever  I  saw  a  man ;  but  that  he  also  counted  surely  upon  dying 
there  was  shown  by  the  glance  of  grave  friendliness  that  he  gave 
us,  and  by  his  making  the  gesture  that  among  his  people  is  sig 
nificant  of  farewell.  Then  we  ranged  ourselves  across  the  gate 
way,  holding  our  swords  in  hand  firmly,  and  Rayburn,  who  had 
caught  up  a  javelin,  stood  with  it  poised  above  his  shoulder  in 
readiness  to  discharge  it  as  the  enemy  came  on.  I  was  very 
angry  with  Young,  whose  disposition  to  seize  upon  the  whimsical 
side  of  everything  was  the  most  irrepressible  that  ever  I  came 
across,  when  he  exclaimed:  "I'll  bet  you  five  dollars,  Rayburn, 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        205 

that  when  you  throw  that  clothes-prop  you  don't  hit  th'  man  you 
fire  at!" 

But  Rayburn  did  hit  his  man,  straight  in  the  heart  too,  a 
moment  later,  as  the  enemy  with  a  wild  yell  charged  us;  and 
then,  with  his  back  set  well  against  the  wall,  he  fell  to  work 
most  gallantly  with  his  sword. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  it  we  knew  that  our  fighting  was 
utterly  hopeless;  for  all  of  our  company  together  did  not  num 
ber  fifty  men,  and  we  were  confronting  there  a  whole  army.  Up 
the  street,  as  far  as  we  could  see,  the  troops  of  the  enemy  were 
solidly  massed;  and  for  every  man  whom  we  struck  down  twenty 
were  ready  to  spring  forward,  fresh  and  vigorous,  to  exhaust 
still  further  the  strength  that  rapidly  was  leaving  us.  That  we 
fought  on  was  due  not  to  our  valor  but  to  our  desperation ;  and 
also — at  least  such  was  my  own  feeling — to  a  swelling  rage 
that  made  us  long  to  kill  as  many  as  possible  of  these  savages 
before  we  ourselves  died  beneath  their  blows.  Death,  we  knew, 
was  the  best  thing  that  could  happen  to  us;  for  it  would  save 
us  from  the  worse  fate,  that  surely  would  come  to  us  should 
we  be  captured,  of  being  turned  over  to  the  priests,  that  they 
might  torture  us  before  their  heathen  altars,  and  in  the  end 
tear  our  still  quivering  hearts  out.  And  that  the  wish  of  our 
enemies — according  to  the  Aztec  custom — was  rather  to  cap 
ture  us  than  to  kill  us  was  shown  by  the  way  in  which  they  fought ; 
for  all  their  effort  was  to  disable  us,  and  so  to  take  us  alive; 
nor  did  they  seem  to  have  any  great  care,  if  only  this  purpose 
could  be  accomplished,  how  many  of  themselves  were  slain. 

Sometimes  in  my  dreams  the  wild  commotion  of  that  most 
desperate  combat  comes  back  to  me.  I  see  again  before  me  the 
crowd  of  half-naked  men,  curving  in  a  semicircle  measured  by 
the  length  of  my  sword,  their  faces  distorted  by  the  passionate 
anger  that  stirred  their  souls;  and  I  see  one  fierce  face  after 
another  lose  out  of  it  the  look  of  life,  yet  not  the  look  of  hate,  as 
my  sword  crunches  into  the  vitals  of  the  body  to  which  it  be 
longs  ;  and  I  hear  the  wild  din  around  me,  and  the  yells  of  rage 
and  of  pain,  and  my  feet  tread  in  slippery  pools  of  blood,  and 
my  body  aches  with  weariness,  and  sharp  thrills  of  agony  dart 
through  the  strained  muscles  of  my  right  arm — yet  still  I  fight 


206        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

on,  and  on.  And,  truly,  all  this  seems  more  real  to  me  now  in 
my  sleep  than  it  did  to  me  then  in  its  reality;  for  a  dull  weight 
of  most  desolate  hopelessness  settled  down  upon  me  as  I  fought 
out  to  the  end  that  most  hopeless  battle — so  that  my  spirit 
shared  in  the  numbness  of  my  body,  and  I  cut  and  parried  and 
gave  men  their  death-blows  with  the  stolid  energy  of  a  mere 
death-dealing  machine. 

It  had  been  from  the  first  no  more  than  a  question  of  minutes 
how  long  this  unequal  fight  would  last;  and  when  I  heard  a 
great  yell  from  the  enemy,  and  perceived  a  flood  of  soldiers 
swirling  inward  through  the  gate-way  just  beyond  the  fellows 
whom  I  was  dealing  with,  I  knew  that  Tizoc's  men  had  been 
beaten  down  or  slain,  and  that  the  end  was  very  near  at  hand. 
As  I  glanced  across  the  shoulders  of  the  man  whom  I  just 
then  put  forever  on  the  list  of  the  non-combatants,  I  saw  what 
seemed  to  be  an  eddy  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd  that  was  rush 
ing  into  the  Citadel;  and  in  the  thick  of  the  tightly  knotted 
group  that  thus  choked  the  narrow  way  I  saw  Tizoc  still  lay 
ing  about  him  with  his  sword.  He  was  a  very  ghastly  object, 
for  a  cut  on  his  head  had  loosened  a  piece  of  his  scalp,  his  face 
was  bathed  in  blood  from  this  horrid  wound,  and  his  armor  of 
cotton  cloth  was  soaked  with  the  blood  that  had  run  down  upon 
it  from  the  cut  in  his  head,  and  also  from  a  wound  in  his  neck.  In 
the  moment  that  I  had  free  sight  of  him  he  made  as  fine  a  sword- 
stroke  as  ever  I  saw,  wherewith  he  fairly  severed  from  its  body 
the  head  of  one  of  his  assailants;  and  at  the  very  same  instant, 
while  that  head  still  was  spinning  in  the  air,  a  man  directly  be 
hind  him  forced  back  the  pressing  crowd  by  main  strength  and 
so  gained  a  free  space  in  which  to  swing  his  sword.  I  shouted 
to  Tizoc  to  warn  him  of  the  danger,  and  he  half  turned  to  ward 
against  it;  but  before  he  could  turn  wholly  around  the  blow  had 
fallen,  splitting  his  whole  head  open  from  the  crown  to  the 
very  chin.  And  in  the  midst  of  the  fierce  yell  of  triumph  that 
went  up  as  this  cowardly  stroke  was  delivered  there  passed  from 
earth  the  soul  of  as  brave  and  as  true  a  man  as  earth  has  ever 
known. 

A  dizziness  came  over  me  as  I  saw  Tizoc  fall,  and  saw  in  the 
same  moment  the  wild  rush  forward  of  the  enemy  over  his 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        207 

dead  body  into  the  Citadel;  and  so  I  suppose  that  what  with 
this  dizziness  and  my  great  weariness  I  must  have  dropped  my 
guard.  I  faintly  remember  hearing  a  shout  of  warning  from 
Young,  who  was  close  beside  me,  which  shout  mingled  with 
the  shrieks  of  those  inside  the  Citadel  whom  the  enemy  every 
where  were  cutting  down,  and  the  great  roar  of  victory  that 
went  up  from  all  the  army,  both  within  and  without  the  Citadel, 
rising  tempestuously  in  mighty  waves  of  sound:  and  then  a 
crash  like  that  of  a  thunder-bolt  burst  directly  upon  my  head, 
and  a  sickening  pain  shot  through  me,  and  I  seemed  to  be  fall 
ing  through  untold  depths  into  vast  gloomy  chasms,  and  there 
was  a  very  dreadful  surging  and  roaring  and  ringing  in  my  ears; 
and  then  all  this  horror  of  evil  sounds  grew  fainter,  and  I  felt 
myself  slipping  quickly  into  the  awful  stillness  and  blackness 
that  I  surely  thought  must  be  the  entrance-way  to  death.  And 
with  this  thought  a  numb  sort  of  gladness  came  over  me,  for 
in  death  there  was  promise  of  restfulness  and  peace. 


Chapter  XXXI 

A~"TER  all,  the  life  that  I  thought  was  lost,  and  had  but  little 
sorrow  for  the  losing  of  it,  slowly  came  back  to  me  again. 
For  a  good  while  before  I  recovered  consciousness  fully,  I  un 
derstood  a  little  of  what  was  going  on  around  me  by  sounds 
which,  no  doubt,  were  loud  and  ringing,  yet  which  seemed  to 
me  to  come  faintly  from  a  long  way  off.  They  plainly  were 
the  sounds  of  fighting— of  weapons  rattling  together,  of  shouts 
and  yells  and  death-cries — but  I  did  not  associate  them  with  our 
present  battling,  but  thought  that  we  still  were  in  the  canon,  and 
were  still  fighting  those  wild  Indians  by  whom  poor  Dennis  was 
slain.  And  I  knew  that  I  had  been  hurt  badly;  for  in  my  head 
was  a  throbbing  pain  so  keen  that  it  seemed  like  to  split  my 
skull  open,  and  my  stomach  was  stirred  by  most  distressing 
qualms,  and  my  weakness  was  such  that  I  could  not  ease  the  sore 
muscles  of  my  body  by  moving  by  so  much  as  a  hair's-breadth 
from  the  cramped  position  in  which  I  lay. 

It  seemed  to  me  a  vastly  long  while  that  I  remained  in  this 
dreary  condition  of  half-consciousness,  with  no  certain  knowledge 
of  anything  save  the  pain  that  I  suffered;  and  then  I  felt  some 
one  touch  me,  and  a  hand  laid  upon  my  heart;  and  this  touch  so 
far  roused  me  that  I  heaved  a  long  sigh  and  slowly  opened  my 
eyes.  For  a  moment  I  did  not  know  the  face  that  I  saw  bending 
over  me;  nor  was  this  wonderful,  for  in  place  of  its  usual  rud 
diness  was  a  death-like  pallor,  that  was  the  more  marked  by 
contrast  with  the  blood  that  trickled  down  over  it  from  a  great 
gash  across  the  brow  whereby  the  bone  was  laid  bare.  But 
there  was  no  mistaking  the  voice  that  called  out:  "He's  alive, 
Rayburn!"  and  added,  "I  don't  see  what  right  he's  got  t'  be 
alive,  either,  after  a  crack  like  that.  I  guess  studyin'  antiquities 
must  everlastin'ly  harden  an'  thicken  a  man's  skull!" 

"Studying  engineering  doesn't  harden  a  man's  leg,  anyway," 
I  heard  Rayburn  answer.  "That  cut  pretty  near  took  mine  off. 
But  now  that  we've  stopped  the  bleeding  I  guess  I'm  all  right. 

208 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        209 

I  think  I  can  work  over  to  you  on  my  hands  and  knees  and  help 
you  with  the  Professor.  Now  that  I  know  he's  alive  I  seem  to 
be  a  lot  more  alive  myself." 

"Just  you  stay  where  you  are,"  Young  called  back,  sharply. 
"If  you  move  you'll  start  that  bandage  an'  I'll  have  t'  tie  you 
up  all  over  again.  I'll  attend  t'  th'  Professor."  And  then 
Young  bent  over  me,  and,  with  a  tenderness  that  I  never  would 


"HE'S  ALIVE,  RAYBURN !" 

have  thought  his  rough  hands  capable  of,  set  himself  to  band 
aging  my  wounded  head.  But  the  best  thing  that  he  did  for  me 
was  to  give  me  a  draught  of  water  from  a  gourd  that  had  been 
slung  about  the  neck  of  one  of  the  soldiers  lying  dead  there; 
which  draught,  with  the  comfort  that  the  cool  wet  bandage 
about  my  head  gave  me,  brought  back  to  me  so  much  of  my 
strength  that  I  was  able  presently  to  sit  up  and  look  around. 


210        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

Truly,  a  more  ghastly  sight  than  that  which  my  eyes  then 
rested  upon  I  never  saw.  The  gate-way  of  the  Citadel  was  a 
very  shambles.  Piles  of  dead  men  lay  all  around  me;  and  the 
prodigious  number  of  the  enemy  lying  slain  there  testified  with 
a  mute  eloquence  to  the  desperate  fashion  in  which  our  handful 
of  men  had  fought.  Over  the  rough  pavement,  down  the  slope 
towards  the  lake,  there  flowed  a  stream  of  bright  red  blood  that 
in  places  shone  a  brilliant  vermilion  where  it  was  touched  by  the 
glintings  of  the  sun.  Among  the  dead  I  did  not  see  Tizoc's 
body,  and  for  this  I  was  glad.  Half  a  dozen  of  the  enemy 
stood  by  us  as  a  guard;  but  these  suffered  us  to  minister  to  each 
other,  evidently  feeling  that  no  great  amount  of  caution  was 
necessary  in  dealing  with  three  badly  wounded  men.  Indeed, 
these  guards,  in  their  way,  manifested  a  kindly  feeling  for  us; 
for  when  they  perceived  that  our  gourd  of  water  was  empty  one 
of  them  picked  up  another  full  gourd  from  amid  the  dead  and 
handed  it  to  us.  From  inside  the  Citadel  there  still  came  a 
tumult  of  fierce  sounds  which  gave  proof  that  though  the  battle 
was  ended  the  work  of  killing  still  was  going  on ;  but  these  sounds 
sensibly  diminished  while  we  lay  there  waiting  to  know  what 
fate  would  come  to  us,  and  we  concluded,  therefore,  that  there 
remained  no  more  rebels  to  be  slain. 

Rayburn  was  seated  upon  the  ground  at  no  great  distance 
from  me,  his  back  propped  against  the  wall.  As  he  saw  that 
I  was  looking  towards  him,  and  had  again  my  wits  about  me,  he 
greeted  me  with  a  very  melancholy  smile.  "It's  been  a  pretty 
cold  day  for  us,  Professor,"  he  said,  "and  there's  no  great  com 
fort  in  knowing  that  it's  partly  our  own  fault  that  these  fellows 
have  laid  us  out.  I  didn't  give  them  credit  for  such  good  tac 
tics;  and  even  with  the  bad  watch  that  we  kept  I  don't  see  how 
they  managed  to  get  their  men  round  on  the  other  side  of  our 
camp.  Well,  it  must  please  them  to  know  how  straight  we 
walked  into  the  trap  that  they  set  for  us,  like  the  pack  of  fools 
that  we  were." 

"You  won't  ketch  me  joinin'  in  any  more  Indian  revolutions, 
anyway,"  Young  put  in.  "I  did  think  I  could  bet  on  those 
Tlahuicos,  an'  they've  just  gone  back  on  us  th'  worst  kind. 
Do  you  feel  strong  enough,  Professor,  to  tie  th'  ends  o'  this 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        211 

rag?"  He  had  been  binding  up  the  cut  in  his  forehead,  and  he 
now  got  down  on  his  hands  and  knees  in  front  of  me,  and  bent 
his  head  down  within  easy  reach  of  my  hands ;  and  my  strength 
had  so  far  returned  to  me  that  without  being  very  tired  after 
it  I  was  able  to  make  the  ends  of  the  bandage  fast.  The  blow 
on  his  head  had  glanced  from  the  skull,  luckily ;  but  it  had  been 
heavy  enough  to  stun  him  for  some  minutes  after  he  received  it 
— and  his  falling  as  though  dead  had  been  the  means,  no  doubt, 
of  saving  his  life,  even  as  in  the  same  manner  my  life  had  been 
saved.  Rayburn's  wound  was  a  worse  one  than  either  Young's 
or  mine,  for  a  great  gash  in  his  thigh  had  wellnigh  cut  his  leg 
off,  and  until,  with  Young's  help,  he  had  improvised  a  tourniquet 
from  a  bowstring  and  a  broken  fragment  of  a  javelin,  he  had 
been  in  great  danger  of  bleeding  to  death. 

For  more  than  an  hour  we  were  suffered  to  lie  in  the  gate 
way  ;  while  the  work  went  on  of  slaying  the  wretched  Tlahuicos, 
and  then  of  marshalling  the  more  important  personages  who 
had  been  reserved  alive  as  prisoners,  and,  finally,  of  restoring 
order  in  the  victorious  ranks.  At  the  end  of  this  time  an  officer 
with  a  squad  of  men  came  to  where  we  were  lying,  and  roughly 
ordered  us  to  rise,  to  the  end  that  we  also  might  be  placed  among 
the  prisoners.  Young  and  I  had  so  far  recovered  our  strength 
that  we  managed  to  scramble  on  our  feet  with  no  great  difficulty. 
In  Rayburn's  case  standing  was  quite  out  of  the  question;  and 
I  shortly  told  the  officer  in  what  manner  he  was  wounded,  and 
that  to  make  him  rise  and  walk  assuredly  would  start  the  band 
age  on  his  leg,  and  so  lead  to  his  quickly  bleeding  to  death. 
Thereupon  the  officer  gave  an  order  to  some  of  his  men  to  fetch 
a  stretcher  such  as  their  own  wounded  were  carried  in. 

While  we  waited  for  the  stretcher  to  be  brought,  the  soldiers 
fastened  about  Young's  neck  ancl  about  mine  heavy  wooden 
collars,  which  set  well  out  over  our  shoulders  and  were  not  un 
like  great  ruffs.  As  Rayburn  was  being  lifted  upon  the  stretcher 
which  the  soldiers  had  brought,  we  heard  from  within  the  Cita 
del  the  sound  of  drums  tapping,  and  then  the  measured  tread  of 
soldiers  marching;  and  as  we  looked  through  the  gate-way  we 
saw  that  the  troops  had  been  formed  in  regular  order  and  were 
moving  towards  us.  At  the  head  of  the  column  were  the 


212        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

prisoners — numbering  three  or  four  hundred,  and  all  wearing 
wooden  collars  about  their  necks — covered  on  both  flanks  by  a 
strong  line  of  guards.  They  were  ranged  in  order  of  their  dig 
nity,  the  unlucky  members  of  the  Council  coming  first,  and  after 
them  the  other  officers  of  that  short-lived  government;  then  the 
military  officers,  and  in  the  rear  a  few  private  soldiers.  The 
fact  that  no  Tlahuicos  were  among  the  prisoners  led  me  to 
conclude  that  such  of  these  as  had  not  been  slain  had  been  held 
under  guard  until  they  might  be  returned  to  their  owners  or 
set  again  to  toiling  hopelessly  in  the  mine. 

The  importance  that  in  the  estimation  of  our  captors  at 
tached  to  ourselves  was  shown  by  their  placing  us  at  the  very 
head  of  the  column,  in  advance  even  of  the  members  of  the 
Council;  and  this  was  a  compliment  that  we  willingly  enough 
would  have  declined,  for  such  honorable  consideration,  accord 
ing  to  the  customs  of  this  people,  meant  surely  that  we  were 
reserved  for  a  very  exemplary  fate.  But  we  were  in  no  position 
to  raise  objections  of  any  sort  just  then,  and  we  therefore  fell 
into  the  place  assigned  to  us  and  tried  as  well  as  we  could  to 
show  a  bold  front  as  we  went  downward  towards  the  lake. 

Only  a  few  terrified  women  and  children,  who  fled  away  as 
we  advanced,  were  in  sight  as  we  passed  through  the  streets 
of  the  town;  and  from  many  of  the  hovels  came  the  moans  of 
poor  wounded  wretches  who  had  crawled  to  their  miserable 
homes  to  die  in  them;  and  from  others  came  the  lamentations 
of  women  over  their  dead;  and  in  nooks  and  corners,  whither 
with  their  last  strength  they  had  dragged  themselves,  we  saw 
men  lying  dead  in  pools  of  their  own  blood.  But  down  by  the 
water-side  there  were  live  men  in  plenty,  soldiers  and  oarsmen, 
and  the  pier  was  crowded  with  them;  while  out  beyond  the  pier 
the  whole  bay  was  swarming  with  the  boats  in  which  the  enemy's 
forces  had  stolen  down  upon  us  in  the  darkness  from  Culhuacan ; 
making  their  landing,  as  we  now  learned,  just  beyond  the  town 
in  a  bay  that  ran  up  close  to  where  our  army  was  encamped. 
And  this  scene  of  bustling  activity  in  the  bright  sunshine  made 
a  joyous  and  brilliant  picture;  that  was  all  the  brighter  because 
of  its  setting  in  that  sunlit  bay,  opening  out  between  beaches  of 
golden-yellow  sand  upon  the  broad  expanse  of  restful  water 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        213 

which  fell  away  in  gleaming  splendor  into  a  bank  of  soft  gray 
haze. 

But  the  picture  was  still  more  stirring  that  we  saw  as  we 
looked  landward,  when  the  barge  that  we  were  put  aboard  of 
pulled  out  from  the  pier  and  our  rowers  lay  on  their  oars,  and 
so  waited  while  the  work  of  embarkation  went  on.  Right  in 
front  of  us  was  the  broad  central  street  of  the  town;  and  the 
whole  length  of  this,  from  the  pier  to  the  Citadel,  was  filled  with 
a  solidly  massed  body  of  soldiers  that  came  down  the  steep 
descent  slowly,  and  halting  often,  to  the  boats  which  were 
in  waiting  to  bear  them  away.  Barbarians  though  they  were, 
these  soldiers  made  a  gallant  showing.  In  front  of  each  regi 
ment  was  borne  its  feather  standard,  and  in  the  midst  of  each 
company  was  its  rallying  flag  of  brightly  painted  cotton  cloth. 
The  higher  officers  wore  wooden  casques,  carved  and  painted  in 
the  semblance  of  the  heads  of  ferocious  beasts;  the  cotton-cloth 
armor  of  all  the  officers  was  decked  with  a  great  variety  of 
strange  devices,  wrought  in  very  lively  hues,  and  similarly  strong 
hues  were  used  in  the  decoration  of  the  universally-carried  light 
round  shields.  And  all  this  brilliant  color,  the  more  vivid  be 
cause  of  its  background  of  bare  brown  skins,  was  flecked  with  a 
thousand  glittering  points  of  light  where  the  sunshine  sparkled 
on  swords  and  on  spear-heads  of  hardened  gold. 

"It's  not  much  wonder  that  those  fellows  got  away  with  us," 
Rayburn  said,  as  he  watched  the  orderly  manner  in  which  the 
disciplined  ranks  moved  out  upon  the  pier  and  stepped  briskly 
into  the  boats  at  the  word  of  command.  "They're  as  fine  a  lot 
of  fighters  as  I  ever  saw  anywhere.  Just  look  how  steadily 
they  stand  at  a  halt,  and  how  sharply  they  obey  orders,  and  how 
well  set  up  they  are!  I  must  say  I  don't  see  what  the  Colonel 
could  have  been  thinking  about  when  he  said  that  we  had  a  fight 
ing  chance  against  an  army  like  that.  Well,  he's  paid  for  his 
mistake  about  as  much  as  a  man  can  pay  for  anything.  It 
breaks  me  all  up  to  think  that  the  Colonel  is  dead.  He  was 
good  all  the  way  through.  And  I  wonder  what  will  become  of 
that  little  lame  boy  of  his  now?  They'll  make  a  Tlahuico  of 
him,  I  suppose.  By  Jove!  what  a  mess  we've  made  of  this 
whole  business  from  first  to  last!" 


2i4        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

For  nearly  two  hours  we  lay  there  in  the  bay  while  the  em 
barkation  of  the  prisoners  and  the  troops  went  on — our  boat 
moving  farther  out  from  the  pier  from  time  to  time  as  the 
double  line  of  boats  behind  it  lengthened.  In  that  sheltered  place 
there  was  little  wind  blowing,  and  the  blazing  heat  of  the  sun 
beating  down  upon  my  wounded  head  gave  me  so  sharp  a  pain 
that  I  gladly  would  have  died  to  be  rid  of  it;  and  I  could  see, 
from  the  drawn  look  of  their  faces,  that  Young  and  Rayburn 
were  suffering  not  less  keenly.  We  were  thankful  enough, 
therefore,  when  at  last  the  embarkation  was  completed — more 
than  half  of  the  army  remaining  in  Huitzilan  to  restore  order 
there — and  we  pulled  out  from  the  bay  into  the  open  waters 
of  the  lake  and  were  comforted  by  the  light  breeze,  which  yet 
brought  with  it  a  delicious  refreshment,  that  was  blowing  there. 

All  the  bright  beauty  of  that  lovely  lake  was  around  us,  hav 
ing  for  its  background  the  green  meadows  and  the  darker  green 
of  the  forests  hanging  above  them  on  the  upward  slopes,  and 
beyond  all  the  towering  height  of  the  cliffs,  which  shaded  in 
their  colorings  from  delicate  gray  to  dark  brown,  and  were 
touched  here  and  there  by  patches  of  black  shadow  where  some 
great  cleft  opened;  and  yet  all  that  we  then  thought  of  was 
that  across  those  blue  waters,  which  gleamed  golden  in  the  sun 
light,  we  were  going  swiftly  to  a  cruel  death,  and  that  the  cliffs, 
whereof  the  beauty  was  hateful  to  us,  irrevocably  shut  us  in. 
Which  gloomy  feelings  pressed  upon  us  throughout  that  dismal 
passage,  while  all  our  oarsmen  pulled  stoutly  together,  and  we 
went  gliding  onward  over  the  sunlit  waters  towards  the  evil  fate 
that  we  knew  was  waiting  for  us  within  the  dark  walls  whereby 
was  encircled  the  city  of  Culhuacan. 


Chapter  XXXII 

WHILE  yet  we  were  a  long  way  off  from  the  city,  we 
heard  faintly  the  yells  of  triumph  with  which  the  watch 
ers  above  the  water-gate  gave  notice  to  those  within  the  walls  of 
the  return  of  the  victorious  army;  and  from  all  the  boats  of  our 
flotilla  there  went  up  a  shrill  chorus  of  answering  yells.  Our 
barge  was  the  first  to  pass  through  the  water-gate,  out  from 
which  we  had  come  so  gallantly  so  short  a  time  before,  and 
thence  went  onward  across  the  basin  to  the  very  pier  that  we  had 
started  from  with  such  high  hopes  to  gather  the  forces  for  the 
rebellion  that  had  come  to  so  sorry  an  end. 

All  the  water-side  was  black  with  the  crowd  that  had  gath 
ered  to  watch  our  landing;  but,  considering  that  these  people 
were  there  to  welcome  a  victorious  army,  it  seemed  to  me  that 
they  were  strangely  still  and  dull.  And  when  we  were  marched 
upward  through  the  city — following  the  same  street  that  we  had 
fought  our  way  along  when  last  we  traversed  it — I  saw  in  the 
crowd  so  many  sullen  and  dejected  faces  that  it  seemed  to  me 
there  still  was  in  that  city  a  good  deal  of  material  for  the  mak 
ing  of  another  mutiny. 

This  time  we  were  not  taken  to  the  house  in  which  we  had  met 
the  Priest  Captain,  and  whence  we  had  been  delivered  from  im 
prisonment  by  Tizoc's  gallant  rescue  of  us;  but,  passing  a  little 
beyond  this  house,  we  were  led  up  a  broad  stairway  to  the  pla 
teau  which  crowned  the  city,  and  on  which  stood  the  great  Treas 
ure-house  that  also  was  the  temple  in  which  the  Aztlanecas 
housed  their  most  venerated  gods. 

The  outer  facing  of  the  plateau,  like  that  of  the  terraces  below 
it,  was  a  prodigiously  heavy  wall  of  squared  stones  set  in  ce 
ment;  and  for  a  coping  this  wall  had  great  stones  carved  in  the 
similitude  of  serpents'  heads,  with  mouths  wide  open.  Through 
a  portal  formed  of  two  huge  blocks  of  stone  carved  to  represent 
two  serpents  coiled  upon  themselves,  the  heads  meeting  above 
in  a  sort  of  arch,  we  entered  the  large  enclosure  before  the  tem- 

215 


216        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

pie.  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  in  the  centre  of  the  enclosure 
the  rock  had  been  hewn  away  in  such  a  fashion  as  to  create  a  vast 
amphitheatre;  and  that  this  was  the  place  where  sacrifice  was 
offered  by  the  priests  was  shown  by  the  blood-stained  altar  in  the 
centre  of  it,  to  which  fragments  of  flesh  also  adhered,  whence 
was  wafted  up  to  us  a  dreadful  stench  that  instantly  racked  us 
with  queasy  qualms.  Save  directly  in  front  of  the  entrance  to 
the  temple,  where  was  a  great  stone  balcony  with  a  smaller  bal 
cony  below  it,  all  the  sides  of  the  amphitheatre  were  cut  in 
steps,  which  made,  also,  benches  where  the  multitude  could  sit 
at  their  ease  and  behold  the  bloody  work  going  on  in  the  pit 
below  them;  and  so  enormous  was  this  rock-hewn  cavity  that 
fully  forty  thousand  people  could  at  once  be  seated  there.  Under 
the  balcony  there  was  visible  the  entrance  to  a  dark  tunnel-like 
passage,  that  evidently  communicated  with  the  temple,  and  a 
smaller  passage,  not  large  enough  for  a  man  to  pass  through, 
slanted  downward  to  where  it  opened  on  the  terrace  below; 
which  last  was  to  drain  the  blood  away,  and  also  to  free  the 
amphitheatre  from  water  in  the  season  of  rains. 

We  held  our  noses  as  we  skirted  this  shocking  place,  and  we 
were  glad  enough  when  we  got  beyond  it  and  came  to  the  en 
trance  to  the  temple — a  very  noble  portal,  severely  simple,  and 
because  of  its  simplicity  the  more  majestic,  in  which,  as  in  the 
whole  of  the  facade,  was  manifest  the  grave  and  sombre  Egyp 
tian  feeling  that  I  had  before  observed.  Through  this  we 
passed  into  the  shadowy  interior,  lighted  by  only  a  few  narrow 
slits  cut  in  the  enormously  thick  walls,  where  the  lofty  roof  was 
upheld  by  a  wilderness  of  columns  which  opened  before  us  seem 
ingly  endless  vistas  where  an  eternal  twilight  reigned.  Of  in 
terior  decoration  there  was  nothing  save  a  broad  and  simple 
panelling  upon  the  walls,  and  the  great  pillars  were  mere  round 
monoliths  without  either  bases  or  capitals. 

As  we  entered  this,  to  them,  most  sacred  place  a  hush  fell 
upon  our  escort,  and  even  I  felt  something  of  that  reverent 
awe  that  is  inspired  by  any  building  which  has  been  sanctified 
by  the  worship  of  multitudes  within  it  through  countless  years. 
But  that  Young  did  not  at  all  share  this  feeling  with  me  was 
made  manifest  by  his  observing,  after  taking  a  long  look  around 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        217 

him :  "Well,  this  wouldn't  answer  for  a  Congregational  church, 
anyway.  There  ain't  a  pew  in  th'  whole  place,  an'  here  in  broad 
daylight  you  couldn't  see  a  hymn-book  if  you  tried."  But  at 
this  point  Young's  observations  were  cut  short  peremptorily  by 
the  hand  that  one  of  the  guards  laid  across  his  mouth;  which 
hint  that  it  was  desirable  for  him  to  keep  silence  was  quite 
unmistakable. 

This  decided  repression,  of  Young's  chattering,  no  doubt, 
was  the  more  vigorous  because  we  now  were  approaching  the 
farther  end  of  the  temple,  where  loomed  before  us  amid  the 
shadows  a  great  idol,  set  upon  an  altar-like  throne.  This  figure, 
fully  ten  feet  high,  was  a  strange  medley  of  grotesque  and  hid 
eous  carvings  that  yet  in  its  entirety  was  like  a  man ;  and  so  cruel 
and  so  ferocious  was  the  general  air  of  it  that  it  well  might  in 
spire  a  very  lively  terror  in  simple  souls.  The  most  striking 
feature  of  the  figure  was  a  dismal  skull  that  was  outheld  from 
the  region  of  the  waist  by  two  great  hands  placed  there  arbi 
trarily  and  without  any  relation  to  the  figure's  arms ;  and  for  a 
crest — repeating  the  motive  of  the  gate-way — it  had  two  ser 
pents'  heads,  the  bodies  pertaining  to  which  were  twisted  and 
involved  about  the  whole  mass.  For  eyes  this  evil  thing  had 
large  and  gleaming  green  stones  and  golden  serpents,  very  beau 
tifully  wrought,  were  twisted  about  it,  and  a  collar  of  golden 
hearts  was  hung  around  its  neck  over  a  sort  of  apron  of  shining 
green  feathers ;  and  feathers  of  a  like  sort  rose  above  the  heads 
of  the  serpents  in  a  thick  plume;  and  over  every  part  of  flie 
figure  were  scattered  glittering  objects  whence  shone  through  the 
heavy  shadows  faint,  shimmering  points  of  light.  In  one  of  its 
out-stretched  hands  the  figure  held  a  bow,  and  in  the  other  a 
bunch  of  arrows ;  but  even  without  these  unmistakable  attributes 
I  should  have  known  from  the  skull  and  from  the  serpents' 
heads  that  this  fierce  and  hideous  idol  represented  the  god  Huit- 
zilopochtli :  the  first  divinity,  and  throughout  the  whole  time 
that  their  bloody  religion  endured,  the  principal  divinity,  that  the 
ancient  Mexicans  adored.  Young  did  not  venture  to  speak 
aloud  again,  but  he  turned  to  me  with  a  long  sigh  and  whis 
pered,  earnestly,  "That  certainly  is,  Professor,  the  very 
d dost  thing  I  ever  sawl" 


218        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

As  I  knew,  it  was  in  keeping  with  the  Aztec  customs  that  pris 
oners  taken  in  war  thus  should  be  brought  first  of  all  before 
the  god  Huitzilopochtli,  that  they  and  their  captors  together 
might  do  him  reverence;  therefore,  I  was  not  surprised  when 
a  priest  came  forth  from  behind  the  altar  and  bade  us  prostrate 
ourselves  in  adoration  of  the  idol.  As  this  order  was  given, 
all  the  Aztlanecas  with  us  bowed  themselves  to  the  floor;  but 
Young,  who  did  not  understand  the  order,  and  I,  who  felt  my 
gorge  rising  at  the  thought  of  thus  humbling  myself,  remained 
erect.  However,  we  did  not  continue  through  many  seconds  in 
that  position;  for  a  couple  of  soldiers  instantly  laid  hands  upon 
each  of  us,  and  by  shoving  our  shoulders  sharply  forward,  and 
at  the  same  moment  kicking  our  legs  from  under  us,  they  sum 
marily  laid  us  face  downward  at  full  length  upon  the  floor.  As 
for  Rayburn,  they  seemed  to  be  satisfied  with  his  recumbent 
position  upon  the  stretcher;  at  any  rate,  they  suffered  him  to 
remain  as  he  was. 

While  I  lay  prone,  quivering  with  rage  at  the  double  indignity 
of  being  thus  roughly  handled,  and  of  being  compelled  even  in 
form  to  worship  a  disgusting  idol,  I  heard  an  odd  little  patter 
ing  upon  the  stone  floor,  and  then  something  cold  and  clammy 
was  thrust  against  my  hand,  and  at  the  same  instant  I  heard 
close  beside  me  a  curious  snuffling  noise ;  and  while  a  glad  doubt, 
that  I  scarce  ventured  to  give  way  to,  was  rising  within  me,  the 
clammy  thing  was  taken  away  from  my  hand,  and  there  straight 
way  rang  out  through  the  gloomy  silence  of  the  temple  a  thun 
derous  braying  that  seemed  fairly  to  shake  the  walls.  There 
was  no  mistaking  the  voice  of  the  friend  who  with  this  trium 
phant  blast  welcomed  me ;  and  as  I  heard  it  there  came  into  my 
heart  a  sudden  glow  of  hope  that  Pablo,  and  that  even  Fray 
Antonio  also,  might  still  be  alive.  And  this  hope  was  destined 
to  be  immediately  and  most  joyfully  realized,  for  as  we  rose  to 
our  feet  again  I  saw  the  lad  standing,  with  El  Sabio  beside  him, 
not  a  dozen  feet  away  from  me;  and  a  little  beyond  them  was 
the  monk,  his  face  all  lighted  up  with  a  bright  look  of  happiness 
and  love.  And  seeing  these  three  once  more  standing  alive  and 
well  before  me  was  the  most  amazing  and  also  the  very  gladdest 
sight  that  ever  met  my  eyes. 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        219 

It  was  a  sore  trial  to  me  that  I  could  not  immediately  hold 
converse  with  Pablo  and  with  Fray  Antonio,  and  so  come  to 
know  through  what  adventures  they  had  passed,  and  by  what 
miracles  their  lives  had  been  saved;  but  the  ceremony  in  which 
our  captors  were  engaged  was  but  half  completed,  and  the  bet 
ter  to  assure  our  orderly  conduct  during  its  continuance  we  were 
kept  asunder  in  the  procession  that  then  was  formed — the  object 
of  which  procession,  as  my  knowledge  of  the  Aztec  customs  led 
me  rightly  to  infer,  was  that  the  ceremonial  of  triumph  might 
be  ended  by  leading  us  thrice  around  the  sacrificial  stone.  And 
in  truth  I  dreaded  less  the  fate  which  this  leading  us  about  the 
altar  of  sacrifice  implied  was  in  store  for  us  than  I  did  the  close 
association,  made  necessary  by  the  ceremony,  with  the  direful 
stench  which  that  vile  altar  exhaled. 

At  the  edge  of  the  amphitheatre,  where  already  the  evil  odor 
was  almost  overpowering,  the  soldiers  who  had  charge  of  us 
relinquished  us  to  a  company  of  the  temple  priests;  whereof  the 
chief  was  a  round,  fat  little  man,  whose  shortness  of  legs  very 
obviously  was  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  shortness  of 
wind.  He  was,  in  truth,  a  most  hopelessly  undignified  little  per 
sonage;  yet  he  did  his  best  to  assume  a  look  of  dignity  as  he 
waddled  down  the  steps  in  advance  of  us,  and  he  manfully  en 
deavored  to  conceal  the  difficulties  encountered  by  his  short  fat 
legs  in  the  course  of  this  descent.  And  I  was  glad  enough  that 
we  had  his  absurd  performances  to  distract  our  minds  a  little 
from  the  dismalness  of  our  surroundings,  and  especially  from 
the  queasiness  that  again  beset  our  stomachs  as  our  noses  were 
assailed  more  and  more  violently  by  that  most  evil  smell.  The 
priests,  I  observed,  had  cotton  stuffed  in  their  nostrils;  but  for  us 
there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  hold  our  noses  tightly  with  our 
hands. 

El  Sabio,  who  had  a  most  generous  and  broadly  open  nose, 
and  who  was  not  blest  with  hands  to  hold  it  fast  with,  grew 
restive  as  the  first  whiff  struck  him;  which  resulted  less,  I  sup 
pose,  from  the  intrinsic  vileness  of  the  smell  than  from  the  fact 
that  he,  in  common  with  all  peace-loving  animals,  had  aroused  in 
him  an  instinctive  terror  by  the  odor  of  blood.  Pablo's  voice, 
and  Pablo's  touch,  possibly  might  have  soothed  and  quieted  him ; 


220        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

but  the  efforts  which  the  priests  who  were  leading  him  made  to 
restrain  him  only  served  the  more  to  terrify  him,  and  so  to 
increase  his  violence.  And  the  priests,  who  now  for  a  consider 
able  time  had  seen  him  daily,  and  had  known  him  only  as  the 
most  gentle  and  biddable  of  creatures,  were  mightily  astonished, 
and  evidently  were  terrified,  by  this  sudden  outbreak  of  a  fierce 
temper  that  most  reasonably  took  them  entirely  by  surprise. 
Partly  by  pulling  at  the  rope  that  they  had  about  his  neck,  and 
partly  by  such  pushes  as  they  dared  to  give  him  while  he  was 
momentarily  at  rest,  they  succeeded  in  forcing  him  down  the 
steps;  and  so  at  last  into  the  large  circular  space  at  the  bottom  of 
the  amphitheatre,  in  the  midst  of  which  stood  the  stone  of  sacri 
fice  and  where  the  smell  of  blood  was  overpoweringly  strong. 
But  by  the  time  that  this  victory  was  won  El  Sabio  had  ceased 
to  be  a  quiet  orderly  donkey,  accustomed  to  conform  to  the 
usages  of  human  society,  and  had  become  a  veritable  crazy 
creature,  inflamed  by  the  madness  of  fear  and  rage. 

By  some  miracle  El  Sabio's  nimble  heels  had  until  this  moment 
lashed  the  air  harmlessly;  but  just  as  the  last  step  downward  was 
accomplished  he  let  out  both  of  his  hind-legs  together,  and  with 
such  precision  that  both  of  his  hoofs  struck  a  remarkably  tall 
priest  who  had  taken  a  very  active  part  in  persecuting  him.  The 
blow  was  landed  fairly  on  the  tall  priest's  stomach,  and  instantly 
the  two  long  halves  of  that  priest  shut  together  like  a  jack-knife, 
and  he  fell  to  the  ground  with  a  gasp  that  told  how  thoroughly 
the  wind  was  knocked  out  of  him.  Doubtless  this  outburst  of 
violence  served  but  to  increase  El  Sabio's  terror,  for  he  straight 
way  gave  so  strong  a  plunge  that  he  fairly  broke  away  from  the 
men  who  were  holding  him ;  and  then  he  bent  all  his  energies  to 
working  such  destruction  as  never  was  worked  by  one  single  ass 
since  the  very  beginning  of  the  world. 

Fortunately  for  our  own  safety — for  El  Sabio  was  in  no  con 
dition  to  discriminate  between  friends  and  foes — we  still  were  at 
some  distance  from  the  bottom  of  the  amphitheatre  when  this 
outbreak  occurred;  the  greater  part  of  the  priests  having  pre 
ceded  us,  and  El  Sabio  having  been  led  in  the  van  of  the  prisoners. 
It  was  wholly  upon  the  priests,  therefore,  that  his  mad  rage  was 
expended,  and  the  way  that  he  "got  in  his  work,"  as  Young  ex- 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        221 

pressed  it,  on  these  enemies  of  his  and  ours  was  a  joyful  wonder 
to  behold.  Being  closely  penned  in — for  the  way  whence  they 
had  entered  the  amphitheatre  was  barred  by  the  crowd  of  which 
we  were  a  part,  and  the  entrance  to  the  subterranean  passage 
leading  to  the  temple  was  closed — the  priests  had  no  chance  to 
escape  from  the  furious  creature  save  by  clambering  up  the 
smooth  wall,  fully  eight  feet  high,  by  which  was  enclosed  the 
circular  space  that  immediately  surrounded  the  altar.  Even  an 
agile  man,  going  at  it  quietly,  would  have  found  a  little  difficulty 
in  executing  this  gymnastic  feat,  that  required  for  its  accomplish 
ment  sheer  lifting  of  the  body  until  a  leg  could  be  thrown  over 
the  top  of  the  wall;  and  as  these  priests,  for  the  most  part,  had 
grown  fat  and  sluggish  in  their  sacred  calling,  they  were  wellnigh 
incapacitated  from  performing  it.  Furthermore,  El  Sabio  mani 
fested  what  had  the  appearance  of  being  a  most  diabolical  in 
genuity — yet  that,  no  doubt,  was  no  more  than  chance — in  de 
livering  flying  kicks  against  the  legs  of  these  dangling  creatures; 
wherefrom  such  keen  pain  resulted  that  they  instantly  let  loose 
their  hold,  and  came  tumbling  to  the  ground. 

So  far  as  we  were  concerned — our  sympathies  being  wholly  on 
the  side  of  the  ass — this  astonishing  spectacle  remained  a  broad 
farce  until  the  very  end;  but  it  presently  became  to  the  men 
engaged  in  it  a  very  serious  tragedy.  As  he  made  his  wild 
charges,  El  Sabio  galloped  backward  and  forward  again  and 
again  over  the  bodies  of  his  prostrate  enemies;  in  the  course  of 
which  gallopings  his  sharp  little  hoofs  cut  their  naked  flesh 
savagely,  and  now  and  then,  when  he  happened  to  land  a  kick 
fairly  against  a  man's  body,  we  could  see,  from  the  sinking  in 
of  the  fellow's  ribs  and  the  gush  of  blood  that  burst  from  his 
nostrils,  that  the  ass  had  delivered  a  death-blow. 

As  for  the  noise  that  attended  this  most  extraordinary  per 
formance,  words  can  but  faintly  describe  it.  From  the  men 
directly  engaged  with  El  Sabio  came  yells  of  fear  and  shouts  for 
assistance  and  cries  of  anger,  beneath  all  of  which  was  a  dull 
undertone  of  groans ;  the  crowd  around  us  and  higher  up  behind 
us  gave  vent  to  a  shrill  roar  of  shouts  and  yells  that  seemed  to 
be  partly  in  the  nature  of  advice,  and  partly  the  result  of  that 
instinct  which  prompts  all  barbarians  to  yell  whenever  anybody 


222        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

else  yells,  on  general  principles.  Pablo  interpolated  a  most 
despairing  note  in  the  way  of  beseeching  cries  of  "B-u-r-r-r-o! 
B-u-r-r-r-o  I"  whereby  he  sought  to  allay  El  Sabio's  frenzy,  and 
so  to  save  him  from  the  direful  fate  that  well  might  be  expected 
to  overtake  him  in  recompense  of  his  direful  deeds;  and  Young 
fairly  tossed  his  battered  Derby  hat  up  into  the  air  as  he  shouted : 
"Go  it,  El  Sabiol  Give  it  to  'em,  my  boy!  Ten  t'  one  against 
th'  fat  priest  1  Three  cheers  for  th'  jackass!  Hip-hip-hurrah!" 
In  short,  it  seemed  as  though  Bedlam  had  broken  loose  among 
us,  and  as  though  all  of  us  together  were  going  mad. 

What  with  dodging  behind  his  fellows,  and  keeping  clear  of  El 
Sabio's  frantic  charges  by  the  display  of  an  agility  that  I  would 
not  have  given  him  credit  for,  the  little  fat  priest  managed  to 
preserve  his  small  round  body  unharmed  until  all  of  his  com 
panions  had  either  escaped  over  the  wall  or  had  been,  as  Young 
put  it,  knocked  out  by  El  Sabio's  heels.  Once  or  twice  he  had 
made  a  dash  for  the  passage-way  in  which  we  were  standing,  but 
the  lower  end  of  this  was  choked  with  the  dozen  or  more  badly 
wounded  wretches  who  had  crawled  thither  in  their  efforts  to 
escape;  and  these  the  priests  in  front  of  us,  being  but  cowardly 
creatures,  had  made  no  effort  to  succor  or  to  lift  away,  for  the 
reason  that  so  long  as  this  barrier  remained  they  themselves  were 
safe  from  El  Sabio's  fury. 

Having,  therefore,  no  longer  any  one  to  hide  behind,  the  fat 
little  priest  evidently  realized  that  his  only  hope  of  salvation  lay 
in  making  an  effort,  truly  heroic  in  one  of  his  height  and  girth  and 
woful  shortness  of  wind,  to  clamber  up  the  face  of  the  wall ;  and 
to  this  wellnigh  impossible  task  he  most  resolutely  set  himself. 
It  was  only  by  jumping  that  he  was  able  to  get  a  grip  over  the 
top  of  the  wall;  yet  when  this  grip  was  gained  he  could  get  no 
farther  on  his  way  to  deliverance,  and  so  he  clung  dangling 
there,  his  face  to  the  wall,  jerking  his  short  fat  legs  about 
spasmodically,  and  wasting  in  most  piercing  yells  what  little  there 
was  in  him  of  wind. 

It  did  really  seem  as  though  El  Sabio's  action  in  these  premises 
was  dictated  by  reason,  for  when  he  saw  the  priest  in  this  wholly 
unprotected  position  he  deliberately  took  his  stand  at  precisely 
the  point  behind  the  little  man  where  all  of  his  kicking  power 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE)        223 

could  be  most  effectively  used.  There  was  a  momentary  hush 
as  El  Sabio  thus  placed  himself,  for  every  one  perceived  how 
very  open  was  the  priest  to  assault;  and  at  the  same  time  it  was 
apparent  that  while  El  Sabio's  kicks  assuredly  would  be  exceed 
ingly  painful,  they  were  not  likely  to  inflict  upon  the  priest,  while 
he  remained  in  that  attitude,  a  deadly  wound.  In  an  instant 
the  two  small  heels  flashed  through  the  air,  and  there  was  heard 
a  dull,  soft  sound — such  as  might  come  from  the  striking  of  an 
over-ripe  melon  with  a  heavy  club — and  with  this  burst  forth  a 
most  piercing  shriek  of  pain.  Yet  the  little  priest,  knowing  that 
his  life  depended  upon  it,  most  gallantly  retained  his  hold.  Again 
El  Sabio  kicked,  and  again  a  piercing  shriek  sounded;  and  one 
hand  loosened  for  a  moment  and  then  clutched  fast  again.  But 
when  El  Sabio  kicked  for  the  third  time  human  nature  was  too 
weak  to  resist  further  against  brute  violence.  With  a  yell  that 
fairly  cracked  our  ears  the  priest  let  go  his  hold  and  fell  down 
ward  and  backward;  and  at  that  same  instant  El  Sabio  delivered 
a  final  kick  that  struck  fairly  on  the  head  of  the  falling  man 
and  battered  in  his  skull. 

As  for  El  Sabio,  it  seemed  as  though  he  himself  were  like  to 
die  in  the  very  moment  of  his  victory;  for  with  a  sort  of  groan 
that,  coming  from  a  brute  beast,  was  most  pitiful  to  listen  to,  the 
poor  terrified  creature,  utterly  exhausted  by  his  fright  and  his 
outlay  of  energy  in  furious  violence,  sank  down  panting  by  the 
side  of  the  man  whom  he  had  slain. 


Chapter  XXXIII 

with  El  Sabio  reduced  to  this  condition  of  complete 
quiescence,  the  Aztlanecas,  soldiers  as  well  as  priests,  still 
were  terribly  afraid  of  him;  being  firmly  convinced,  as  was  not 
at  all  unnatural,  that  for  the  time  being  there  was  embodied  in 
him  a  devil  of  a  most  dangerous  sort.  Therefore  they  were  but 
too  glad  to  yield  to  Pablo's  burning  eagerness  to  get  to  the  poor 
ass;  and  when  he  called  for  aid  to  carry  the  exhausted  creature 
out  from  the  amphitheatre,  and  so  away  from  among  the  dead 
and  wounded  and  from  the  dreadful  smell  of  blood,  Young  and  I 
promptly  were  pushed  forward  and  ordered  to  perform  this  piece 
of  work  that  even  the  bravest  of  them  shrunk  from  undertaking. 
However,  there  was  no  real  peril  in  it,  for  El  Sabio  was  so 
weak  that  he  could  not  even  stand,  and  still  less  was  he  strong 
enough  to  kick  anybody.  Lifting  him  in  this  dull,  limp  state,  and 
carrying  him  up  the  steep  steps,  was  heavy  work  for  us,  wounded 
and  weary  as  we  were;  but  with  Pablo's  help  we  managed  it, 
and  so  got  him  up  from  the  depths  of  the  amphitheatre  to  its 
windward  side — where  a  fresh  sweet  breeze  that  was  blowing, 
and  some  water  that  a  soldier  brought  when  Pablo  called  for  it, 
in  a  little  while  put  new  life  into  him.  Why  the  ass  was  not 
made  to  pay  the  penalty  of  his  sins,  by  being  there  and  then 
killed,  at  first  was  a  good  deal  of  a  puzzle  to  me;  but  presently, 
from  the  talk  that  went  on  about  us  while  Pablo  ministered  to 
him,  and  while  the  wounded  lying  around  the  altar  were  being 
cared  for,  and  the  dead  borne  away,  I  gathered  that  no  one  dared 
to  kill  him  for  fear  of  being  himself  possessed  by  the  devil  that 
needs  must  enter  another  body  upon  being  thus  set  free.  And  as 
this  seemed  to  be  a  view  of  the  case  that  was  worth  encouraging, 
I  very  gravely  told  one  of  the  priests  that  I  myself  had  seen  a 
man  all  in  an  instant  go  raving  mad  upon  slaying  one  of  these 
creatures  and  so  letting  the  devil  loose  from  him.  As  this  story 
was  circulated  among  the  crowd  I  was  glad  to  perceive  that  the 
dread  of  El  Sabio  obviously  greatly  increased. 

224 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        225 

As  a  result  of  the  untoward  outbreak  that  had  occurred,  no 
attempt  was  made  to  complete  the  ceremonial  of  triumph.  In 
deed,  the  victory  now  lay  so  decidedly  with  El  Sabio  that  there 
was  but  little  to  triumph  over.  Therefore  we  presently  were 
herded  together  by  a  party  of  soldiers — who  took  good  care  that 
Pablo  should  lead  the  ass,  and  that  Young  and  I  should  walk 
directly  behind  him  as  a  protection  against  any  further  uplifting 
of  his  heels — and  so  we  all  were  marched  once  more  into  the 
temple.  This  time  we  did  not  stop  in  front  of  the  great  idol,  but 
went  on  beyond  it  towards  a  portal  in  the  rear  of  the  building 
that  opened  on  an  inner  court ;  on  the  farther  side  of  which  court, 
as  we  knew  from  the  description  of  the  place  that  Tizoc  had 
given  us,  was  the  Treasure-house,  in  which  was  stored  not  only 
the  treasure  placed  there  in  long  past  ages  by  King  Chaltzantzin, 
but  also  the  treasure  belonging  to  the  State  and  to  the  temple 
that  had  been  accumulated  in  later  times. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  court-yard,  where  the  way  was  closed  by 
a  metal  grating  over  which  a  heavy  curtain  hung,  the  soldiers 
formally  relinquished  us  into  the  charge  of  a  company  of  priests ; 
and  then  the  curtain  was  drawn  aside  and  the  grating  was  raised, 
and  we  passed  out  into  the  bright  sunlight — and  saw  close  before 
us  the  place  which  for  so  long  a  time  had  so  largely  filled  our 
thoughts.  It  was  a  building  of  no  great  size,  being  but  a  single 
story  high,  and  was  dwarfed  by  the  vastly  stupendous  cliffs 
which  so  far  overtopped  it  that  they  seemed  to  extend  upward 
to  the  very  sky;  but  it  was  most  massively  constructed,  and  the 
actual  available  space  within  it  was  far  greater  than  was  indicated 
by  the  relatively  small  dimensions  of  its  exterior  walls.  When  we 
entered  the  building,  through  a  narrow  opening  protected  by  a 
metal  grating,  the  chamber  into  which  we  came  was  of  so  con 
siderable  a  size  that  a  part  of  it,  we  perceived,  must  extend 
actually  into  the  cliff;  and  that  the  work  of  quarrying  out  the 
living  rock  had  been  carried  still  farther  was  shown  by  an  open 
ing  at  its  rear  end  that  evidently  gave  access  to  some  hollow 
depth  beyond. 

It  was  towards  this  inner  recess  that  our  guards  led  us.  Here 
another  grating  was  raised  that  we  might  pass,  and  we  went  on 
ward  through  a  narrow  passage  cut  in  the  rock,  along  the  sides 


226        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

of  which  were  many  openings  giving  access  to  small  cell-like 
rooms.  Nor  was  this  place,  as  we  had  expected  to  find  it, 
wholly  dark;  for  narrow  slits  had  been  cut  through  the  rock  out 
to  the  face  of  the  cliff,  through  which  came  so  much  light  that 
we  could  see  about  us  very  well.  And  but  for  that  blessed  light, 
faint  though  it  was,  I  doubt  not  that  we  should  have  gone 
mad  there ;  and  even  with  the  light  to  cheer  and  to  comfort  us  I 
felt  a  black  despair  settling  down  upon  me  at  the  thought  of 
being  thus  imprisoned  within  the  very  bowels  of  the  mountain, 
with  no  possibility  of  other  release  than  being  taken  thence 
to  die. 

At  the  extreme  end  of  the  passage  the  rock  had  been  hollowed 
away  smoothly  and  carefully  so  as  to  form  a  chamber  nearly 
thirty  feet  square  and  at  least  twenty  feet  high,  whereof  all  of 
the  walls  were  covered  with  plates  of  gold  which  overlapped 
each  other  in  the  manner  of  fishes'  scales;  and  advantage  had 
been  taken  of  some  wide  crevice  or  deep  depression  in  the  cliff 
above  to  open  in  the  roof  of  this  chamber  a  small  aperture, 
whence  a  pale  light  entered  in  long  fine  rays  which  gleamed 
through  the  shadows,  and  gleamed  again  more  faintly  in  reflec 
tions  from  the  golden  walls.  In  this  oratory — for  such  it  evi 
dently  was — stood  a  statue,  smaller  than  that  in  the  temple  yet 
still  more  magnificently  arrayed,  of  the  god  Huitzilopochtli ; 
before  which  odious  image  we  were  thrown  upon  our  faces  by 
our  guards.  When  this  ceremony  was  ended  we  were  led  forth 
once  more  into  the  passage,  and  so  into  two  of  the  little  cells 
which  had  been  meagerly  prepared  for  us  by  tossing  into  each 
of  them  a  bundle  of  mats;  and  there  our  guards  left  us  to  shift 
for  ourselves — shutting  the  grating  behind  them  with  a  sharp 
ringing  of  metal  on  stone  that  echoed  dismally  through  the 
rock-hewn  chambers  wherein  we  were  held  fast. 

For  a  while  we  stood  in  melancholy  silence  about  the  stretcher 
on  which  poor  Rayburn  lay;  and  very  pale  and  worn  he  looked 
after  his  great  loss  of  blood  and  heavy  fatigue  and  the  pain  and 
excitement  of  the  last  few  hours.  Pablo  had  taken  up  his  quar 
ters  with  El  Sabio  in  a  cell  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  passage — 
for  within  the  limits  of  our  prison  we  were  left  to  arrange  our 
selves  as  we  pleased — and  we  could  hear  him  talking  to  the  ass  in 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        227 

a  fashion  that  at  any  other  time  we  should  have  laughed  at;  for 
by  turns  he  upbraided  him  for  his  rash  acts,  and  complimented 
him  upon  his  bravery,  and  expressed  dread  of  the  punishment 
that  might  be  visited  upon  him,  and  told  him  of  his  very  tender 
love — all  of  which,  so  far  as  we  could  judge,  El  Sabio  took  in 
equally  good  part. 

"There  ain't  no  good  in  standin'  'round  here  doin'  nothin'," 
Young  said,  at  last.  "This  don't  look  like  much  of  a  place  t' 
break  out  of,  but  we  may  as  well  see  how  things  are,  anyway.  Th' 
Padre'd  better  take  a  squint  at  Rayburn's  busted  leg  an'  set  th' 
bandages  straight;  an'  while  he's  attendin'  t'  that,  me  an'  you, 
Professor,  can  do  a  little  prospectin'.  This  is  th'  Treasure- 
house,  for  sure,  an'  it'll  be  some  satisfaction  t'  see  what  it  amounts 
to.  I'll  bet  a  hat  there  ain't  anything  worth  havin'  in  th'  whole 
place,  after  all." 

I  was  glad  enough  to  have  any  occupation  that  would  change 
even  a  little  the  sad  current  of  my  thoughts,  and  I  therefore  very 
willingly  acted  on  Young's  suggestion  and  together  we  set  about 
this  curious  exploration. 

As  for  Young's  bet  of  a  hat  that  there  was  no  treasure  here 
worth  having,  he  would  have  lost  it,  had  it  been  accepted,  at  the 
very  first  of  the  rooms  which  we  examined;  for  the  whole  of  this 
room,  a  cube  of  about  ten  feet,  was  packed  full  of  bars  of 
hardened  gold  from  the  mine  at  Huitzilan.  And  so  was  the 
next  room,  and  the  next,  until  we  had  found  five  rooms  thus  filled. 
But  all  the  remaining  rooms  were  entirely  empty,  and  of  the 
treasure  set  aside  in  long  past  ages  by  King  Chaltzantzin  there 
was  no  sign.  Yet  here,  truly,  was  stored  wealth  the  like  of 
which  the  richest  monarch  in  the  world  could  not  match  for 
greatness ;  and  as  Young  beheld  before  him  such  enormous  riches 
his  face  grew  ruddy,  an  eager  light  came  into  his  eyes,  the  muscles 
of  his  throat  worked  convulsively,  and  his  breathing  was  labored 
and  short — until  I  demolished  all  his  fine  fancies  at  a  blow  by 
saying:  "Much  good  this  treasure  is  to  us,  when  there  isn't  a 
ghost  of  a  chance  that  either  of  us  will  ever  get  out  of  this 
valley  alive!"  As  I  uttered  these  bitter  words  his  look  of 
animation  left  him,  and  for  some  moments  he  was  silent;  and 


228        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

when  at  last  he  spoke,  it  was  in  a  tone  of  calm  though  melan 
choly  conviction,  and  with  a  most  dispassionate  air. 

"I  shall  be  obliged  t'  you,  Professor,  really  obliged  t'  you," 
he  said,  "if  you'll  just  kick  me  for  a  blasted  fool.  Ever  since 
that  night  in  Morelia  when  you  told  me  an'  Rayburn  about  this 
treasure  I've  regularly  had  it  on  my  brain.  An'  it's  true  for  a 
fact,  Professor,  that  never  until  this  blessed  minute,  when  we've 
really  struck  it,  has  th'  notion  come  into  my  fool  head  that  when 
we  did  ketch  up  with  it  the  folks  it  rightly  b'longed  to  might 
want  t'  keep  it  for  theirselves !" 

I  was  a  little  gladdened,  when  we  returned  again  to  the 
others,  to  find  that  Fray  Antonio  was  speaking  to  Rayburn,  with 
a  grave,  calm  hopefulness,  of  those  spiritual  realities  which  are 
higher  and  better  than  material  realities.  Presently  Fray  An 
tonio  shifted  his  ground  and  told  us  of  what  had  befallen  him 
since  he  had  stolen  away  from  us  that  night  in  Huitzilan. 

In  truth,  he  had  but  little  to  tell,  for  his  adventures  had  been 
of  a  very  simple  kind.  Upon  his  arrival  in  the  canoe  at  the 
water-gate  he  had  been  at  once  recognized  and  admitted,  and  had 
been  carried  directly  to  the  building  in  which,  on  our  first 
coming  into  the  city,  we  all  had  been  confined.  And  there  he 
had  been  imprisoned  until  he  was  led  up  to  the  temple  to  take 
part  in  the  triumph  that  El  Sabio's  violence  so  seriously  had 
marred,  and  so  once  more  was  in  our  company.  Of  the  Priest 
Captain  he  had  seen  nothing  at  all;  nor  had  any  answer  come 
back  to  him  from  that  dignitary  to  his  urgent  plea  that,  inas 
much  as  he  had  thus  surrendered  himself,  his  companions — that 
is,  ourselves — should  be  suffered  to  leave  the  valley  in  peace; 
which  silence  on  the  part  of  the  Priest  Captain  was  not  sur 
prising,  however,  in  view  of  the  brave  defiance  in  words  sent 
by  the  Tlahuicas,  who  afterwards  were  such  cowards  in  deeds. 

In  fact,  during  the  brief  time  of  his  imprisonment  Fray  An 
tonio  had  not  spoken  to  a  soul  save  the  man  who  brought  him 
drink  and  food.  Although  a  priest  of  the  temple,  his  jailer  had 
listened  with  a  most  earnest  and  hearty  attention  to  the  expound 
ing  of  Christian  doctrine  that  was  opened  to  him,  and  had 
shown  a  very  cheering  willingness  to  recognize  the  shortcomings 
of  his  own  idolatrous  belief  as  compared  with  the  principles  of 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        229 

this  purer  and  nobler  faith.  And  he  had  told  Fray  Antonio  that 
many  of  his  companions  in  the  service  of  the  temple,  having 
heard  somewhat  of  the  new  creed  from  those  who  had  come 
up  from  Huitzilan,  were  eager  to  know  more  concerning  it. 

Pablo's  experience  as  a  prisoner  had  been  of  a  far  more  try 
ing  sort;  for  the  priests  had  sought  earnestly,  he  said,  by  most 
stringent  means,  to  pervert  him  from  Christianity  to  their  own 
faith.  When  we  had  been  so  rudely  separated  that  day,  after 
our  interview  with  the  Priest  Captain,  he,  and  El  Sabio  with 
him,  had  been  hurried  up  the  stairs  to  the  temple,  and  thence 
to  the  Treasure-house;  and  there,  though  not  in  the  part  of 
it  in  which  we  then  were,  he  had  been  ever  since  confined.  Strong 
measures  certainly  had  been  taken  to  make  a  heathen  of  him. 
He  had  been  starved  for  a  while,  and  he  had  been  deprived  of 
water,  and  he  had  been  cruelly  scourged,  and  very  harrowing 
presentments  had  been  made  to  him  of  the  death  that  he  must 
die  should  he  much  longer  refuse  to  yield.  That  the  lad  had 
remained  firm  in  his  faith,  he  told  us,  sobbing  a  little  at  memory 
of  his  hardships,  was  because  of  the  sorrow  that  he  knew  his 
yielding  would  bring  upon  Fray  Antonio  and  upon  me;  which 
certainly  was  not  the  reason  that  Fray  Antonio  most  would  have 
approved,  but  it  did  not  in  the  least  detract  from  the  steady 
courage  that  he  had  shown  in  holding  out  firmly  under  pressure 
that  would  have  made  many  a  man  succumb.  In  all  the  time 
that  so  many  cruelties  had  been  practised  upon  him,  only  one 
man  had  shown  him  kindness — an  old  man,  who  seemed  to  be 
in  charge  of  the  archives  that  the  Treasure-house  contained,  who 
twice  had  risked  his  own  life  by  secretly  giving  him  water  and 
food.  But  he  never  had  been  separated  from  El  Sabio,  Pablo 
said  joyfully,  in  conclusion,  nor  had  his  mouth-organ  been  taken 
away  from  him ;  and  these  blessings  had  done  much  to  lessen  the 
misery  that  he  was  compelled  to  bear. 

When,  in  our  turn,  Rayburn  and  Young  and  I  had  told  of  the 
far  more  stirring  adventures  that  we  had  passed  through,  and 
of  our  high  hopes  seemingly  so  well  founded  that  had  suffered 
so  dismal  a  downfall,  we  all  of  us  wisely  refrained  from  specu 
lating  at  all  upon  the  future  that  we  might  not  excite  Rayburn, 
who  already  was  in  a  dangerously  feverish  condition  by  reason 


230        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

of  his  wound.  But,  though  we  spoke  not  of  it,  we  none  of  us 
doubted  what  our  fate  would  be;  nor  did  we  imagine  that  the 
death  that  surely  awaited  us  would  be  long  delayed. 

It  was  a  source  of  wonder  to  us,  therefore,  that  day  after  day 
went  by  without  bringing  the  end  that  we  so  confidently  expected. 
From  the  man  who  brought  us  our  food  we  could  learn  nothing; 
but  this  was  not  from  ill-will  on  his  part,  but  because  he  himself 
knew  nothing  of  the  Priest  Captain's  plans.  The  only  other 
person  whom  we  had  a  chance  to  speak  with,  and  this  but  rarely, 
was  the  old  man  who  had  shown  kindness  to  Pablo,  the  guardian 
of  the  archives — who,  by  right  of  his  official  position,  had  free 
access  to  that  portion  of  the  Treasure-house  from  which  the 
second  grating  cut  us  off.  At  the  grating  he  and  I  had  some 
very  interesting  conversations  together  upon  archaeological  mat 
ters;  but  Fray  Antonio  took  but  little  interest  in  him  when  he 
found  how  slight  was  the  impression  made  upon  him  by  the  most 
serious  of  doctrinal  talk. 

Many  curious  things  this  old  man  told  me  touching  the  his 
tory  of  his  people;  and  he  showed  me,  also,  the  manner  in  which 
their  annals  were  kept — an  obvious  evolution  from  the  picture- 
writing  of  the  Aztecs  that  had  advanced  to  a  stage  closely  resem 
bling  the  cross  between  ideaographs  and  an  alphabet  that  the 
Coreans  use.  And  he  told  me  also,  with  a  wonder  that  did  not 
seem  uncalled  for,  that  several  times  in  each  year  the  Priest 
Captain  retired  to  the  very  place  in  which  we  then  were  impris 
oned,  and  remained  there  sometimes  for  as  much  as  a  whole 
month  cut  off  from  his  people,  without  food  or  drink,  while  he 
communed  with  the  gods. 

But  what  seemed  strange  to  me,  and  also  bitterly  dishearten 
ing,  was  that  this  old  man,  notwithstanding  the  office  that  he 
held  and  his  hungry  love  for  ancient  things,  could  tell  me  nothing 
of  the  treasure  that  King  Chaltzantzin  had  stored  away.  He 
knew  of  this  treasure,  he  said,  only  as  a  vague  tradition;  and 
although,  at  one  time  or  another,  he  had  explored  every  chamber 
in  the  Treasure-house,  he  never  had  found  of  this  ancient  deposit 
the  smallest  trace;  for  which  excellent  reason  he  had  concluded 
that  if  ever  there  had  been  such  a  treasure  it  long  since  had 
been  dispersed.  No  doubt — considering  how  useless  to  me, 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        231 

beyond  the  mere  gratification  of  my  own  curiosity,  would  have 
been  its  discovery — my  regret  at  this  abrupt  ending  of  my  hopes 
was  most  unreasonable;  but  I  confess  that,  so  far  as  I  myself 
was  concerned,  the  very  keenest  pang  of  sorrow  that  I  suffered 
through  all  that  sorrowful  time  was  when  I  thus  learned  that 
the  archaeological  search  that  I  had  entered  upon  so  hopefully, 
and  that  I  had  so  laboriously  prosecuted,  had  been  but  a  fool's 
errand  from  first  to  last. 


Chapter  XXXIV 

"EAVILY  and  wearily  the  days  dragged  on  as  we  lay  in 
that  dismal  prison  hewn  from  the  mountain's  heart;  and 
as  they  slowly  vanished  there  stole  upon  us  a  new  sorrow,  that 
was  deeper  and  more  searching  than  the  doubting  dread  by  which 
we  were  beset  touching  the  cruel  ending  of  our  lives. 

Rayburn's  wound  from  the  first  had  been  a  dangerous  one; 
and  the  danger  had  been  aggravated  by  inflammation  that  had 
followed  that  long,  hot  journey  across  the  lake,  and  by  the  rough 
handling  that  his  bearers  had  given  him,  and  by  the  excitement 
that  had  attended  El  Sabio's  fiery  outburst  beside  the  sacrificial 
stone.  Even  Fray  Antonio's  skill  in  surgery,  without  which  he 
assuredly  would  have  quickly  died,  only  barely  sufficed  to  keep 
him  alive  while  the  fever  was  upon  him;  and  when  at  last  the 
fever  left  him,  the  little  strength  remaining  to  him  grew  less 
with  every  passing  day.  It  was  pathetic  to  see  this  man,  who 
until  then  had  been  the  very  embodiment  of  rugged  vigor,  so 
worn  with  suffering  that  without  Fray  Antonio's  tender  assistance 
he  scarce  could  move ;  and  still  more  pathetic  was  it  to  hear  him 
moaning  in  his  pain,  and  uttering  heart-sick  longings  for  sunlight 
and  fresh  air,  for  need  of  which,  Fray  Antonio  affirmed,  he  was 
dying  there  quite  as  much  as  because  of  his  wound. 

It  was  after  one  of  poor  Rayburn's  pitiable  outbreaks  of 
weak  moaning  that  Young  led  me  away  into  the  oratory,  with 
the  evident  intention  of  delivering  himself  of  some  matter  that 
pressed  heavily  upon  his  mind. 

"See  here,  Professor,  I  just  can't  stand  this  any  longer,"  he 
said,  when  we  were  alone.  "I'm  goin'  t'  send  word  t'  th'  Priest 
Captain  t'  ask  him  if  finishin'  me  off  in  short  order  won't  make 
him  willin'  t'  let  Rayburn  out  o'  this  damp  hole  into  some  place 
where  he  can  be  comfortable,  an'  where  in  th'  mornin's  he 
can  get  some  sun  an'  air.  Rayburn  won't  mind  bein'  squarely 
killed  after  he's  healthy  again.  So  I'm  goin'  t'  try  what  I  can 

232 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        233 

do.  It's  nothin'  much  t'  do,  anyway — only  runnin'  a  little  ahead 
o'  th'  schedule,  that's  all." 

Oddly  enough,  something  of  a  like  purpose  had  been  for  some 
time  past  slowly  forming  in  my  own  mind — though  what  I  in 
tended  to  do  would  have,  I  hoped,  still  better  consequences ;  for 
my  notion  was  to  urge  that  for  the  pleasure  that  could  be  had 
from  killing  me,  my  companions  should  be  given  such  freedom 
as  was  to  be  found  in  that  rock-bound  region  beyond  the  Barred 
Pass.  Therefore,  when  Young  thus  brought  up  the  matter 
openly  between  us,  I  told  him  of  my  own  intention;  and  with 
some  emphasis  I  advised  him  that  inasmuch  as  I  first  had  thought 
of  it,  to  me  belonged  the  right  to  carry  this  project  into  execu 
tion;  and  especially  was  this  right  mine,  I  urged,  because  but  for 
me  neither  he  nor  any  of  the  rest  of  us — saving  only,  possibly, 
Fray  Antonio — ever  would  have  come  into  that  valley  at  all. 
Thereupon  we  fell  to  wrangling  somewhat  hotly;  for  Young 
was  a  most  pig-headed  man  when  his  mind  was  set  upon  any 
thing,  and  his  notions  of  argument  even  at  the  best  of  times 
v/ere  of  the  loosest  kind. 

How  our  talk  might  have  ended  I  cannot  tell,  for  each  of  us 
most  resolutely  was  determined  to  have  his  own  way;  but  it 
actually  did  end  because  of  an  interruption  by  which  we  presently 
learned  that  a  will  finer  and  stronger  than  either  of  ours  had 
been  acting,  while  we  had  been  only  thinking,  in  a  fashion  that 
cut  the  ground  completely  from  under  us  both.  And  all  that 
followed  within  the  next  hour  or  two  came  upon  us  with  so 
startling  a  suddenness  that  it  seemed  less  like  reality  than  like  a 
terrible  dream. 

The  first  intimation  that  we  had  that  anything  was  upon  us 
out  of  the  common  run  of  our  drearily  dull  prison  life  was  hear 
ing  a  creaking  noise  that  we  knew  must  be  caused  by  the  raising 
of  the  grating  that  shut  us  in;  and  as  we  hurried  out  from  the 
oratory  into  the  long  passage-way  we  saw  a  company  of  soldiers 
coming  towards  us,  at  the  head  of  which  was  a  priest.  Fray 
Antonio  and  Pablo,  startled  as  we  had  been  by  the  sound  caused 
by  the  opening  of  the  grating  and  the  tramp  of  feet,  also  had 
come  out  into  the  passage;  but  while  Pablo  evidently  was  won 
dering,  even  as  we  were  wondering,  what  might  be  the  purpose 


234        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

that  these  men  had  come  to  execute,  the  look  upon  the  monk's 
face  was  of  expectation  rather  than  of  surprise.  And  without 
waiting  for  the  others  to  speak,  he  asked,  eagerly:  "Is  it  to  be?" 

"It  is  to  be,"  the  priest  answered;  and  it  seemed  to  me  that 
there  was  sorrow  in  the  look  that  went  with  his  words,  and 
sorrow  also  in  the  tone  of  his  voice;  and  that  this  man  truly 
was  sorrowful  because  of  the  message  that  he  brought  I  doubt 
not,  for  he  was  the  priest  who  had  been  jailer  to  Fray  Antonio, 
and  whose  mind  had  seemed  so  open  to  receive  the  doctrine 
that  Fray  Antonio  taught. 

But  there  was  only  joy  in  the  bearing  of  the  monk  as  his 
question  thus  was  answered;  and  there  was  a  ringing  gladness 
in  his  voice  as  he  replied — being  most  careful  first  to  draw 
us  away  from  the  room  in  which  Rayburn  was  lying — to  our 
looks  of  wondering  inquiry.  "The  Priest  Captain  has  granted 
my  request,"  he  said,  and  added  quickly:  "Do  not  sorrow  for  me, 
my  friends.  The  Priest  Captain  has  promised  that  when  I  have 

paid  this  little  debt  of  life  you  whom  I  love  so  greatly  shall  go 
f  r~~ >» 

JL  1  C  L, 

"Don't  you  believe  him!  He's  a  blasted  liar  from  the  word 
gol"  Young  struck  in,  clean  forgetting,  in  the  passionate  sorrow 
that  was  rising  in  his  breast,  that  what  Fray  Antonio  so 
plainly  had  in  mind  to  do  he  himself  had  been  most  strongly  bent 
upon  doing  but  a  moment  before.  But  Young  spoke  in  English, 
and  without  heeding  him  Fray  Antonio  went  on:  "You  two,  and 
the  boy,  surely  will  live;  and  perhaps  life  may  be  given  also  to 
our  friend.  He  is  in  God's  hands.  And  then,  until " 

But  further  speech  was  not  permitted  to  him.  Two  soldiers 
stepped  forward  and  grasped  his  arms,  yet  first  suffering  him 
for  a  moment  to  clasp  hands  with  us,  and  so  led  him  towards 
the  open  grating;  and  behind  him  Young  and  I  and  Pablo  were 
conducted  in  a  like  fashion  by  the  guards.  As  we  passed  the 
room  in  which  Rayburn  lay  we  heard  him  moaning  faintly;  and 
so  weak  was  he  that  day  that  it  seemed  to  me  a  very  likely  thing 
for  us  to  find  him  dead  there  upon  our  return — if,  indeed,  we 
ever  returned  at  all. 

As  we  passed  out  into  the  inner  court  of  the  temple,  where 
the  sun  shone  joyously,  we  heard  a  murmur  in  the  air  like  the 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        235 

distant  sound  of  bees  buzzing;  and  as  we  entered  the  rear  portal 
of  the  temple  this  sound  grew  louder,  yet  still  was  soft  and 
blurred.  In  the  temple,  Fray  Antonio  was  separated  from  us, 
being  led  towards  the  inner  entrance  of  that  subterranean  pas 
sage  which  opened  into  the  pit  of  the  amphitheatre;  and  as  we 
went  onward  to  the  great  portal  in  the  temple's  front  we  cast 
towards  him  sorrowful  looks,  in  which  all  the  bitter  pain  that 
was  in  our  hearts  was  concentrated,  but  had  in  answer  from  him, 
as  he  walked  with  elate  bearing  between  his  guards,  only  looks 
of  most  joyful  hope  in  which  was  also  a  very  tender  love. 

The  noise  that  at  first  had  seemed  to  us  like  bees  buzzing  grew 
louder  as  we  advanced,  until,  when  we  came  out  upon  the  open 
space  before  the  temple,  it  swelled  into  a  mighty  roar.  And  there 
the  cause  of  it  was  plain  to  us;  for  before  us  lay  the  great  amphi 
theatre  crowded  with  a  seething  multitude,  and  all  the  thousands 
gathered  there  were  uttering  savage  cries  of  delight  at  thought 
of  the  savage  spectacle  that  now  in  a  few  moments  would  gladden 
their  fierce  hearts.  In  the  midst  of  this  tumult  we  were  hurried 
into  a  sort  of  balcony,  heavily  built  of  stone,  that  hung  upon  the 
slope  of  the  amphitheatre;  just  behind  and  above  which  was  a 
much  larger  balcony  of  richly  wrought  stone-work  that  was  cov 
ered  by  a  canopy  of  colored  stuffs,  and  that  had  in  its  midst  a 
sort  of  throne.  And  at  sight  of  us  a  great  shout  went  up, 
that  in  a  moment  died  away  into  a  hush  of  silence  as  the  Priest 
Captain,  with  a  company  of  priests  about  him,  entered  the  bal 
cony  behind  us  and  took  his  seat  upon  the  throne. 

But  in  another  instant  the  shouting  burst  forth  again  as  Fray 
Antonio  came  out  from  the  passage  that  opened  beneath  us,  and 
in  a  moment  was  lifted  bodily  by  his  guards  and  placed  upon  the 
Stone  of  Sacrifice  in  plain  view  of  all.  I  wondered  as  I  saw  that 
only  soldiers  accompanied  him,  and  that  there  was  no  sign  of 
the  coming  of  the  priests,  by  whom  the  sacrifice  would  be  made. 
But  my  wonder  ceased,  and  the  burning  pain  that  then  consumed 
me  was  a  little  lessened,  as  there  came  forth  from  the  under 
ground  passage,  guarded  by  four  soldiers,  a  very  tall,  strong 
Indian,  whose  muscles  stood  out  in  great  knots  upon  his  lithe 
body  and  legs  and  arms,  and  immediately  following  him  six 
others  no  less  powerful — for  then  I  knew  that  Fray  Antonio  was 


236        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

not  to  die  the  cruel  and  bloody  death  of  a  sacrificial  victim,  but 
was  to  have,  in  accordance  with  the  Aztec  custom,  such  chance 
of  life  as  was  to  be  found  in  fighting  these  seven  men  in  turn 
and  receiving  his  freedom  when  he  had  slain  them  all.  Yet 
as  I  looked  at  the  slim  figure  of  the  monk,  and  then  at  these 
burly  giants  ready  to  be  pitted  against  him,  I  knew  that  but  one 
result  could  issue  from  that  unequal  combat;  and  a  sudden  dizzi 
ness  came  upon  me,  and  for  a  moment  all  around  me  was  dark. 
Nor  was  this  momentary  darkness  wholly  imaginary;  for  just 
then — with  a  low  growl  of  distant  thunder — a  fragment  broke 
away  from  the  great  mass  of  black  cloud  that  hung  upon  the 
crest  of  the  cliff  above  us  and  drifted  sluggishly  across  the  face 
of  the  sun. 

When  my  dizziness  had  passed,  and  I  could  again  see  clearly, 
the  warrior  was  standing  upon  the  Stone  of  Sacrifice — naked  save 
for  his  breech-clout,  and  armed  with  a  round  shield  and  a  mac- 
cuahuitl  of  hardened  gold.  The  monk  still  wore  his  flowing  habit, 
whence  the  hood  had  fallen  back,  so  that  his  head  was  bare;  in 
one  hand  he  held  his  crucifix,  and  with  the  other  he  was  motion 
ing  away  the  sword  and  shield  that  a  soldier  held  out  to  him: 
at  sight  of  which  refusal  on  his  part  to  be  armed  there  was  a 
shrill  outcry  among  the  multitude  that  the  fight  would  not  be 
fair;  and  to  this  sharp  noise  of  strident  voices  there  was  added  a 
solemn  undertone  that  came  in  a  low  roll  of  thunder  from  the 
overhanging  cloud. 

As  though  to  still  the  clamor,  the  monk  waved  his  hand ;  and 
when  at  this  sign  the  outcries  ceased,  he  asked — yet  addressing 
not  the  Priest  Captain  but  the  whole  mass  of  people  gathered 
there — if  certain  words  which  he  desired  to  utter  would  be 
heard.  And  in  answer  to  him  there  went  up  a  shout  of  assent, 
in  which  was  drowned  completely  (save  that  we,  being  close 
beneath  him,  heard  it)  the  Priest  Captain's  order  that  the  fight 
should  begin.  And  it  struck  me  that  the  Priest  Captain  showed 
his  appreciation  of  the  critical  situation  with  which  he  then  was 
dealing,  and  his  dread  of  the  forces  which  an  ill-timed  word  in 
opposition  to  the  will  of  the  multitude  might  let  loose  against 
him,  by  refraining  from  repeating  his  order  when  silence  came 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        237 

again,  and  all  the  thousands  gathered  there  leaned  forward 
eagerly  to  hearken  to  what  Fray  Antonio  would  say. 

And  what  he  did  say  was  the  most  moving  and  the  most 
exalted  deliverance  that  ever  came  forth  from  mortal  man.  To 
that  great  multitude  he  preached  there  shortly,  but  with  an  elo 
quence  that  I  doubt  not  was  born  directly  of  heavenly  inspiration, 
a  sermon  so  searching,  so  full  of  God's  great  love  and  tenderness, 
and  so  full  also  of  the  majesty  of  His  law  and  of  the  long- 
suffering  of  His  mercy  and  loving-kindness,  that  every  word  of 
it  falling  from  his  lips  seemed  to  burn  into  the  depths  of  all 
those  heathen  hearts.  My  own  heart  was  thrilled  and  shaken 
as  it  never  had  been  stirred  before,  and  the  boy  Pablo  wept  as 
he  listened;  and  even  Young,  to  whom  the  spoken  words  had  no 
meaning,  grew  pale,  and  sweat  gathered  upon  his  forehead  as 
his  soul  was  moved  within  him  by  the  infinitely  beseeching  tender 
ness  of  Fray  Antonio's  voice. 

As  he  spoke  on,  a  hush  fell  upon  them  who  listened ;  and  then 
through  the  throng  a  tremor  seemed  to  run,  but  less  a  sound 
of  actual  speech  than  a  subtle  manifestation  that  in  a  moment  a 
great  outburst  of  assent  would  come,  and  I  felt  within  me  that 
the  work  which  Fray  Antonio  had  dared  death  to  accomplish 
already  was  triumphantly  concluded;  and  so  waited,  breathless, 
to  hear  this  heathen  host  proclaim  its  glad  allegiance  to  the 
Christian  God. 

But  the  Priest  Captain  also  perceived  how  imminent  was 
the  danger  that  menaced  the  ancient  faith,  and  dared  to  take 
the  one  chance  left  for  saving  it,  and  that  a  desperate  one,  by 
breaking  in  upon  Fray  Antonio's  discourse  with  a  ringing  order 
that  the  fight  should  be  no  longer  delayed ;  whereat  a  deep  growl 
of  dissent  ran  through  the  crowd,  that  was  echoed  in  a  still 
deeper  roar  of  thunder  in  the  dark  sky.  Even  as  the  Priest  Cap 
tain  spoke  there  came  a  yet  more  vivid  flash,  and  almost  with  it 
a  crashing  peal. 

At  the  word  of  command,  so  vehemently  given,  the  warrior 
faced  about  upon  Fray  Antonio,  and  held  high  aloft  his  sword; 
but  the  monk,  firmly  standing  there,  while  in  his  eyes  shone  so 
glorious  a  light  that  it  seemed  as  though  the  wrath  of  outraged 
heaven  blazed  forth  from  them,  opposed  to  this  earthly  weapon 


23 8        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

only  his  out-stretched  crucifix,  and  thus  confronted  the  death  that 
menaced  him  with  so  splendid  a  bravery  that  for  an  instant  his 
huge  antagonist  was  held  still  by  a  wonder  that  was  born  half  of 
admiration  and  half  of  awe;  and  in  the  breathless  hush  of  that 
supreme  moment  Fray  Antonio  cried  out,  in  tones  so  clear  and 
so  ringing  that  his  words  were  heard  by  all  the  thousands  gath 
ered  there: 

"I  call  for  help  upon  the  living  and  the  only  God!" 

And  even  as  these  words  still  sounded  in  our  ears  there 
shot  forth  from  the  cloud  above  us  a  swift  red  flash  of  blinding 
light,  and  with  this  came  a  crash  of  thunder  so  mighty  that  the 
cliffs  above  strained  and  quivered,  and  great  fragments  of  rock 
came  hurtling  down  from  them,  and  a  shivering  trembling  surged 
through  the  whole  mountain,  so  that  we  felt  it  swaying  beneath 
our  feet. 

And  as  we  gazed  in  awe,  through  the  gloom  that  from  all 
parts  of  the  heavens  was  gathering  towards  the  height  whereon 
we  were,  we  saw  before  us  God's  wrath  made  manifest;  for  the 
warrior,  still  holding  raised  the  metal  sword  that  had  tempted 
death  to  him,  trembled,  reeled  a  little,  swayed  gently  forward, 
and  then,  with  a  sudden  jerk,  swayed  backward  again,  and  so  fell 
lifeless — his  bare  right  arm,  and  all  the  length  of  his  naked  body 
to  his  very  heel  marked  by  a  livid  streak  of  bloody  purple  that 
showed  where  the  thunderbolt  had  passed.  For  a  moment  the 
monk  also  seemed  stunned;  and  then,  kneeling  beside  that  light 
ning-blasted  corpse,  and  holding  his  hands  out-stretched  towards 
heaven,  whence  his  deliverance  had  come,  he  cried  in  a  clear 
strong  voice,  of  which  the  solemn  tones  rang  vibrant  through 
that  awful  silence:  "The  Christian  God  liveth  and  reigneth! 
Believe  on  Him  whose  love  and  whose  mercy  are  not  less  tender 
than  is  terrible  His  transcendent  power!" 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  thrill  of  movement  that  ran 
through  the  multitude  as  these  words  were  spoken.  I  drew  a 
long  breath  of  thankfulness,  for  I  felt  that  Fray  Antonio  was 
saved,  and  that  in  another  instant  my  ears  would  be  nigh  burst 
by  the  thunderous  roar  of  all  those  thousands — won  to  him  by 
his  own  most  moving  eloquence,  and  by  sight  of  the  miracle 


AND  THEN    WITH    A   SUDDEN    JERK   SWAYED    BACKWARD   AGAIN, 

SO  FELL  LIFELESS 


AND 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        239 

whereby  his  deliverance  had  been  wrought — that  he  should  be 
set  free. 

And  in  this  instant — in  the  very  moment  that  this  sigh  es 
caped  me,  while  yet  the  pause  lasted  before  that  great  shout 
came — the  Priest  Captain  sprang  from  his  seat  above  us  into  the 
balcony  where  we  prisoners  stood  guarded,  on  downward  into 
the  arena  below,  and  thence  upon  the  Stone  of  Sacrifice — all  with 
a  demoniac  agility  most  horrible  to  look  upon  in  one  of  his  with 
ered  age — and  there,  with  a  fierce  thrust  of  a  spear  that  he  had 
caught  from  a  soldier's  hand  in  passing,  he  pierced  Fray  Antonio 
between  the  shoulders  straight  through  the  heart;  and  the  monk, 
still  grasping  in  his  hands  his  crucifix,  fell  face  downward  upon 
the  Stone  of  Sacrifice,  and  lay  there  dead  I 

Then  Itzacoatl,  standing  with  one  foot  upon  the  monk's 
dead  body,  and  grasping  still  the  spear  that  he  had  planted  in 
that  noble  heart,  cried  out,  triumphantly,  "Behold  the  victory 
and  the  vengeance  of  our  Aztec  gods!" 

And  the  multitude,  swayed  backward  from  the  very  thresh 
old  of  the  Christian  faith,  shouted  together  in  one  mighty 
voice,  "Victory  and  vengeance  for  our  gods !" 


Chapter  XXXV 

in  the  wake  of  that  great  thunder-crash  there  burst 
upon  us  so  mighty  a  flood  of  rain  that  it  seemed  as  though 
the  lightning  had  riven  solid  walls  asunder  within  the  thick  black 
masses  of  overhanging  vapor,  and  so  had  let  loose  upon  us  the 
waters  of  a  lake.  And  all  the  dark  mass  of  cloud  above  us  was 
aflame  continuously  with  blinding  flashes  of  red  lightning,  while 
a  continuous  crash  of  splitting  peals  of  thunder  rang  through 
the  shattered  air. 

Doubtless  this  storm  was  our  salvation.  That  the  Priest  Cap 
tain's  intention,  even  from  the  first,  had  been  to  kill  us  also,  and 
so  make  his  victory  complete,  I  do  not  for  a  moment  doubt;  but 
he  was  too  shrewd  to  waste  upon  a  few  terrified  spectators  an 
exhibition  that  would  carry  with  it  a  salutary  demonstration  of 
his  power;  and  with  the  bursting  of  the  flood  upon  us,  the 
crowd  that  filled  the  amphitheatre  had  begun  a  tumultuous  flight 
to  the  temple ;  going  thither  partly  for  shelter,  and  partly  being 
awe-struck  by  what  had  passed  before  them  and  by  the  tre 
mendous  fury  of  the  storm,  that  they  might  find  safety  in  the 
abiding-place  of  their  gods. 

Therefore,  the  order  was  given  hurriedly  that  we  should  be 
taken  back  to  our  prison;  in  obedience  to  which  command  our 
guards  led  us  through  the  temple — where  they  had  difficulty  in 
forcing  a  way  for  us  through  the  dense  throng  that  had  gathered 
within  its  walls — and  thence  to  the  Treasure-house  beyond;  and 
they  were  in  such  haste  to  be  quit  of  us,  that  they  also  might  seek 
safety  in  the  temple,  that  they  scarce  waited  to  close  the  grating 
behind  us  before  they  sped  away. 

So  overwhelming  was  the  grief  that  had  fallen  upon  us  that 
for  some  moments  we  stood  as  though  stunned  where  the  guards 
had  left  us;  and,  for  myself,  my  one  regret  was  that  the  chance 
of  the  storm,  by  saving  me  yet  a  little  while  longer  alive,  had 
lost  to  me  the  happiness  of  dying  in  the  same  hour  with  the  friend 
whom  I  had  so  strongly  loved.  I  think  that  this  thought  was 

240 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        241 

in  Young's  heart  also,  as  he  stood  there  silent  beside  me,  the 
blood  so  drawn  away  from  his  face  that  a  dull  yellow  pallor 
overspread  his  bronzed  skin,  while  his  breath  came  short  and 
hard.  As  for  the  boy  Pablo,  his  whole  being  was  shattered.  He 
sank  down  on  the  rock  at  our  feet,  and  seemed  to  be  moaning  his 
very  life  out  in  long  quivering  sobs. 

But  presently,  as  our  minds  grew  steadier,  the  thought  of 
Rayburn  came  to  us;  and  the  strain  upon  our  heartstrings  was 
relaxed  a  little  by  remembering  that  our  lives  still  were  worth 
holding  fast  to  in  order  that  we  might  minister  to  his  needs. 
Yet  when  we  came  again  into  the  room  where  he  lay,  it  seemed 
at  first  as  though  he  also  was  lost  to  us;  for  even  in  that  faint 
light  we  saw  that  his  face  was  a  deadly  white,  and  when  we  spoke 
to  him  he  neither  spoke  nor  moved.  But,  happily,  our  dread 
that  he  had  died  in  that  gloomy  solitude  was  not  realized;  for 
as  I  laid  my  hand  upon  his  bare  breast  I  felt  his  heart  feebly  beat 
ing,  and  at  the  touch  of  my  hand  he  sighed  a  little,  and  then 
slowly  opened  his  eyes. 

"He's  only  swounded,"  Young  cried,  joyfully.  "It's  th'  smoth- 
erin'  shut-upness  o'  this  forlorn  hole  he's  lyin'  in.  There's  a 
little  more  air  out  in  th'  big  room.  Just  grab  t'other  end  o'  th' 
stretcher,  Professor,  an'  we'll  yank  him  out  there — nobody's 
likely  t'  come  in  t'  stop  us  while  this  storm  lasts.  An' — an'  we 
must  be  careful  how  we  talk,  Professor,  y'  know,"  he  added,  in 
a  lower  tone,  as  we  raised  the  stretcher.  "It  won't  do  for  him 
t'  know  about — about  it  now."  There  was  a  break  in  Young's 
voice  as  he  spoke,  and  I  could  feel  by  the  momentary  quiver  of 
the  stretcher  that  a  shiver  went  through  him  as  he  thought  of 
that  "it,"  about  which  we  must  for  a  time  hold  our  peace. 

Young  bore  the  forward  end  of  the  stretcher,  and  as  we 
came  into  the  oratory  I  felt  him  start  as  he  exclaimed,  "What  th' 
devil's  broke  loose  here?" 

The  darkness  of  the  storm  outside  shrouded  the  oratory  in  a 
dusky  twilight;  but  even  through  the  shadows  which  lay  thick 
about  us  we  could  see  that  there  had  been  within  this  chamber 
some  outbreak  of  extraordinary  and  tremendous  violence;  for 
the  image  of  the  god  Huitzilopochtli  had  been  cast  down  and 
broken  into  fragments,  and  just  behind  where  it  had  stood  there 


242        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

was  a  dark  rift  in  the  gold-plating  of  the  walls,  where  several 
plates  had  been  wrenched  bodily  away. 

A  strong  odor  of  sulphur  hung  heavily  in  the  air,  and,  as  I 
perceived  it,  the  whole  matter  was  plain  to  me.  But  Young 
sniffed  at  this  odor  suspiciously  when  we  had  brought  the 
stretcher  gently  to  rest  upon  the  floor,  and  in  a  startled  voice 
exclaimed,  "Th'  devil  has  been  bustin'  around  in  here  for  sure, 
an'  he's  left  his  regular  home-made  stink  for  a  give-away!"  and 
as  he  spoke  there  was  manifest  a  decided  bristling  of  his  fringe 
of  hair. 

I  could  not  help  smiling  at  this  quaint  proof  of  the  shattered 
condition  of  Young's  nerves — for,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
he  was  the  very  last  man  in  the  world  to  place  faith  in  things 
supernatural — but  I  answered  him  promptly:  "Then  the  devil 
did  a  stroke  of  honest  business  at  the  same  time,  for  all  this  is 
the  work  of  the  same  thunder-bolt,  or  of  a  part  of  it,  that  killed 
that  Indian.  Didn't  you  hear  the  rocks  flying  from  the  cliff 
where  it  struck?" 

"That's  just  what  I  was  goin'  t'  say  myself,"  Young  replied, 
a  little  awkwardly.  "An'  that's  what's  the  matter  with  Ray- 
burn,  an'  made  him  swound  away.  How  d'  you  find  yourself 
now,  old  man?"  he  went  on — rather  glad  to  change  the  subject, 
I  fancied — as  Rayburn,  at  sound  of  his  own  name,  moved  a  little. 

"I  feel  queer,"  Rayburn  answered.  "Sort  of  numb  and  dizzy. 
Where's  the  Padre?" 

"An*  it's  not  much  blame  to  you  that  you  do  feel  queer," 
Young  replied,  hurriedly.  "This  last  thing  you've  taken  it  into 
your  fool  head  t'  do  is  bein'  busted  all  t'  bits  by  a  stroke  o' 
lightnin'.  Most  folks  would  'a'  been  satisfied  with  havin'  their 
legs  pretty  much  sliced  off  by  Injuns — but  reasonableness  ain't 
your  strongest  hold,  Rayburn;  an'  I  guess  it  never  was." 

Rayburn  smiled  faintly  as  Young  spoke,  but  instead  of  at 
tempting  to  answer  him — being  still  numbed  by  the  heavy  shock 
that  he  had  received — he  settled  his  head  back  upon  the  rolled-up 
coat  that  served  him  for  a  pillow,  and  languidly  closed  his  eyes. 
Whereupon  Young,  seeing  that  there  was  nothing  further  that 
we  could  do  for  his  comfort,  betook  himself  to  investigating  care 
fully  the  work  of  destruction  that  the  thunder-bolt  had  wrought : 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        243 

examining  the  fragments  of  the  idol,  and  the  loosened  plates 
of  gold  and  the  place  on  the  wall  whence  these  last  had  been 
wrenched  away. 

I  seated  myself  beside  Rayburn  and  paid  no  attention  to  what 
Young  was  doing.  Even  when  Young  called  to  me,  in  a  tone 
so  eager  and  so  penetrating  that  at  any  other  time  I  should  have 
been  startled  into  quick  action  by  his  words,  I  did  not  rouse 
myself  to  answer  him. 

"Professor!  I  say,  Professor!"  he  repeated:  "Get  right  up 
and  come  here.  Don't  sit  there  like  a  chuckle-headed  chump. 
Get  up,  I  tell  you.  Here's  some  sort  of  a  show  for  us.  Here's 
what  looks  like  a  way  out  o'  this  God-forsaken  hole !" 

As  I  heard  these  words  I  did  get  up,  and  in  a  hurry,  and  so 
joined  Young  where  he  was  kneeling  on  the  floor  close  beside 
the  rear  wall  of  the  oratory,  directly  behind  where  the  idol  had 
stood  until  the  thunder-bolt  had  dashed  it  down.  It  was  at  this 
point,  apparently,  that  the  lightning  had  entered  the  chamber ;  for 
here  several  of  the  plates  of  gold  with  which  the  walls  were 
covered — overlapping  each  other  like  fish-scales — had  been 
loosened,  while  three  of  them  had  been  wrenched  entirely  from 
their  fastenings  and  had  fallen  down.  As  I  joined  him,  Young 
excitedly  pointed  to  the  opening  thus  made,  through  which  was 
visible  not  a  solid  wall  of  rock  but  a  dark  cavity,  and  from  which 
was  blowing  a  soft  current  of  cool  air. 

"It's  a  way  out!  It's  a  way  out!  I  tell  you,"  he  cried.  "This 
suck  o'  wind  proves  it.  If  we  only  can  get  some  more  o'  these 
blasted  plates  loose  we'll  light  out  o'  this  and  euchre  the  Priest 
Captain  an'  his  whole  d n  outfit  yet!  Ketch  hold  here,  Pro 
fessor,  an'  put  your  muscle  into  it  for  all  you're  worth.  Grab 
right  here;  now!"  And  Young  and  I  together  pulled  at  the 
same  plate  with  all  our  might  and  main.  But  for  all  the  impres 
sion  that  we  made  upon  it  we  might  as  well  have  tried  to  pull 
down  the  mountain;  the  plate  did  not  stir.  Young  gave 
a  hearty  curse,  and  then  we  took  another  pull ;  and  all  this  while, 
so  much  does  the  thought  of  saving  his  life  put  cheer  into  a  man, 
my  heart  was  bounding  within  me  and  the  hot  coursing  of  my 
blood  seemed  like  to  burst  my  veins.  Young's  fervor  was  not 


244        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

less  than  mine,  and  we  wrenched  and  tugged  together,  and  never 
stopped  to  mark  our  cut  and  bleeding  hands. 

"We've  got  t'  do  it!"  Young  exclaimed,  as  we  paused  at  last, 
without  having  loosened  the  plate  in  the  least  degree.  "There's 
some  way  o'  workin'  this  thing,  I  know.  It  must  be  some  sort 
of  a  door,  an'  if  we  only  can  get  th'  hang  of  it  we'll  be  all  right. 
Have  you  got  your  wind  again,  Professor?  Now  sling  your 
muscle  into  it.  Heft!" 

We  were  stooping  a  little,  and  so  had  a  strong  purchase,  and 
with  all  our  united  strength  we  heaved  away  together.  There 
was  a  rattling  of  metal,  a  yielding  of  the  plate  so  easy  that  our 
tremendous  effort  was  out  of  all  proportion  to  it;  my  fingers 
seemed  suddenly  to  be  nipped  in  a  red-hot  vice ;  Young  uttered  a 
yell  of  pain,  and  then  we  both  were  sprawling  on  our  backs  on 
the  floor,  while  in  front  of  us  was  a  broad  opening  in  the  wall 
where  a  wide  section  of  the  panelling  had  risen  upward  (the 
plates  sliding  up  under  each  other),  and  so  had  made  an  open 
way. 

UH — 11 !  how  that  did  hurt !"  Young  mumbled,  with  his  nipped 
fingers  in  his  mouth,  and  I  never  remember  pinching  my  fingers 
so  badly  as  I  did  then  in  the  whole  course  of  my  life. 

However,  we  did  not  suffer  our  hurts,  which  were  not  really 
serious,  to  delay  us  in  exploring  this  hidden  place  that  so  sud 
denly  and  with  such  unnecessary  violence  had  opened  to  us.  Push 
ing  upward  the  ingeniously  contrived  door  from  the  bottom,  we 
easily  raised  it  until  an  opening  was  discovered  the  full  height 
of  a  man;  and  through  this  we  went  into  a  narrow  passage  in 
the  rock  that  in  a  moment  turned  and  so  brought  us  into  a  room 
that  was  nearly  as  large  as  the  oratory  that  we  had  just  left,  and 
that,  as  we  presently  found,  actually  communicated  with  the 
oratory  by  means  of  two  narrow  slits  high  up  in  the  wall;  which 
apertures  here  were  plainly  visible,  but  on  the  other  side  were 
so  cleverly  disguised  by  an  ingenious  arrangement  of  the  over 
lapping  plates  as  to  be  entirely  concealed.  Like  the  oratory,  too, 
this  room  had  an  opening  in  its  roof  through  which  air  entered, 
and  so  much  light  that  we  could  see  about  us  plainly.  And  the 
very  first  glance  that  I  cast  around  me  in  this  strange  place 
assured  me  that,  by  sheer  accident,  we  had  found  our  way  at 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        245 

last  to  the  secret  chamber  wherein  King  Chaltzantzin's  treasure 
had  lain  hidden  for  a  thousand  years. 

Rude  shelves  had  been  cut  in  the  rock  on  all  four  sides  of  the 
room,  and  on  these  were  ranged  earthen  pots  of  curious  shapes, 
ornamented  with  strange  devices  that  my  newly  acquired  knowl 
edge  enabled  me  to  recognize  as  the  arms  of  a  king  quartered 
with  the  arms  of  certain  princely  houses  or  tribes.  On  these 
shelves,  also,  were  many  quaintly  wrought  vessels  and  some  small 
square  boxes,  all  of  which  were  of  gold — together  with  a  score 
or  so  of  small  idols  moulded  in  clay  or  roughly  carved  in  stone, 
in  which  last  the  workmanship  was  so  far  inferior  to  that  of 
the  earthen-ware  pots  and  golden  vessels  as  to  show  at  a  glance 
that  they  were  the  product  of  a  much  earlier  and  ruder  age ;  but 
belonging  to  the  same  age  as  the  gold-work,  or  to  a  period  even 
later,  was  a  very  beautiful  Calendar  Stone  most  delicately  carved 
in  obsidian,  that  was  identical,  save  in  the  matter  of  size,  with 
the  great  Calendar  Stone  that  now  is  preserved  in  Mexico  in 
the  National  Museum.  This  was  placed  at  one  end  of  the  room 
upon  a  carved  pedestal;  and  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  room,  the 
end  farthest  removed  from  the  entrance,  was  a  great  stone  image 
of  the  god  Chac-Mool.  Lying  upon  the  Calendar  Stone  was 
what  at  first  I  took  to  be  a  cross-bow  made  of  gold;  but  more 
careful  examination  convinced  me,  especially  in  view  of  the  place 
where  I  had  found  it,  that  this  certainly  was  an  arbalest — called 
also  a  Jacob's  staff  and  a  cross-staff — such  as  in  no  very  ancient 
times,  until  the  invention  of  the  quadrant,  was  used  by  Europeans 
in  taking  the  meridional  altitude  of  the  sun  and  stars. 

At  the  moment  that  I  made  this  last  most  curious  and  exceed 
ingly  interesting  discovery,  Young,  who  had  been  investigating 
on  his  own  account,  gave  a  yell  of  delight,  and  bounded  towards 
me  flourishing  his  own  brace  of  revolvers  in  his  hands.  "They're 
all  here!"  he  cried.  "All  our  guns  are  here,  an'  th'  ca'tridges 
too  I  Now  we  have  got  the  bulge  on  these  devils  for  sure !" 

"At  least  we  can  shoot  ourselves  with  them,  and  so  be  safe 
from  death  by  sacrifice,"  I  answered. 

"Not  much  we  won't  shoot  ourselves,"  Young  replied,  with 
great  energy;  "an'  nobody's  goin'  t'  come  monkeyin'  'round 


246        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

us  with  sacrifices,  either.  Why,  man  alive,  we're  goin'  t'  light 
right  out  o'  this  an'  be  smack  off  for  home." 

"How?"  I  asked,  blankly,  and  with  real  alarm;  for  the  hot 
hope  that  had  filled  me  at  the  thought  of  our  having  found  a 
way  of  escape  had  vanished  as  I  perceived  that  from  this  cham 
ber  there  was  no  outlet  save  the  hole  in  the  roof;  which  hole  also 
accounted  for  the  current  of  air  whereby  my  hope  had  been 
inspired.  Therefore,  when  Young  spoke  in  this  extravagant 
fashion,  the  dread  came  over  me  that  he  was  going  mad. 

"How?"  he  answered,  "why,  through  that  Jack  Mullins,  of 
course.  He  is  th'  tippin'  kind.  I  was  just  tryin'  him,  while  you 
was  pokin'  'round  in  that  old  rubbish,  when  I  happened  t'  ketch 
sight  of  our  guns;  an'  seein'  them,  you  bet,  made  me  bounce. 
Here  goes  for  another  shot  at  him !  Stick  somethin'  under  him  t' 
keep  him  up  when  I  heave." 

I  was  so  dazed  by  the  stunning  wonder  and  by  the  joy  that 
Young's  words  carried  with  them,  that  I  obeyed  his  order 
mechanically.  With  a  grave  seriousness  he  seated  himself  upon 
the  head  of  the  idol;  and  as  the  figure  and  the  stone  base  upon 
which  it  rested  settled  down  at  the  end  upon  which  he  sat,  and 
its  other  end  correspondingly  swung  upward,  showing  beneath 
it  a  dark  opening,  I  wedged  up  the  mass  with  a  heavy  plate  of 
gold  that  served  as  the  lid  of  one  of  the  boxes  ranged  upon  the 
shelves. 

"It  won't  do  for  us  both  together  t'  go  down  there,"  Young 
said,  as  he  rose  from  his  seat  and  we  peered  into  the  dark  cavity. 
"Mullins  might  take  't  into  his  fool  head  t'  shut  himself  up  while 
we  was  down  there,  an'  that  ud  mean  cold  weather  for  Rayburn 
an'  Pablo.  I'll  just  jump  down  them  steps  an'  prospect  a  little, 
while  you  look  after  him  t'  see  that  he  keeps  steady" ;  and  with 
these  words  down  he  went  into  the  hole. 

In  five  minutes  or  so  he  joined  me  again.  "It  don't  look  like 
th'  nicest  place  I  ever  got  into,"  he  said,  "but  I  guess  we'll  have 
t'  take  th'  chances  on  it.  There's  a  little  room  down  there,  an' 
out  o'  that  a  kind  of  a  back  entry  leads  into  an  everlastin'  big 
cave.  But  there  seems  t'  be  a  sort  of  a  path  runnin'  along  in  the 
cave — it's  all  as  dark  as  th'  devil — an'  as  paths  mostly  have  two 
ends  to  'em,  I  guess  if  we  keep  on  long  enough  we'll  get  some- 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        247 

where.  We  can't  stay  here,  that's  sure,  so  we've  just  got  t'  risk 
it,  an'  th'  sooner  we  get  Rayburn  down  there  th'  better.  When 
he's  solidly  safe,  then  we  can  do  some  prospectin' — by  good-luck 
we've  got  lots  o'  matches — an'  see  where  that  path  goes  to.  Just 
sling  on  your  guns,  Professor,  an'  let's  mosey  back  an'  get  th' 
percession  started.  It's  hard  lines  on  Rayburn  t'  tumble  him 
into  a  hole  like  that  when  he's  feelin'  so  bad;  but  I  guess  it's 
better  t'  take  th'  chances  o'  killin  'him  that  way  ourselves  than 
it  is  t'  let  these  devils  do  it  for  sure.  Come  on !" 

While  he  was  speaking,  Young  had  buckled  his  revolvers  about 
his  waist  and  had  slung  his  rifle  over  his  shoulder,  and  I  also  in 
like  manner  had  armed  myself — whereby  was  restored  to  me  a 
most  comforting  feeling  of  strength.  As  for  Young,  the  recov 
ery  of  his  weapons  seemed  to  make  him  grow  two  inches  taller, 
and  he  swaggered  in  his  walk. 


Chapter  XXXVI 

A, MOST  in  the  moment  that  we  thus  found  ourselves  in  con 
dition  to  show  fight  again,  the  need  for  fighting  seemed  like 
to  be  forced  upon  us;  for  as  we  turned  to  leave  the  treasure- 
chamber  we  were  startled  by  hearing  a  creaking  sound  that  we 
knew  came  from  the  sliding  upward  of  the  grating  in  its  metal 
grooves  wherewith  the  entrance  to  our  prison  was  made  fast. 

We  paused  for  a  moment,  and  then  Young  motioned  to  me 
to  follow  him,  stepping  lightly;  and  as  we  came  out  into  the 
oratory  we  heard  a  fresh  creaking,  by  which  we  knew  that  the 
grating  had  been  closed. 

"I  guess  it's  only  th'  fellow  puttin'  in  th'  grub,"  Young  whis 
pered.  "But  go  easy,  Professor,  an'  have  your  guns  all  handy, 
so's  you  can  shoot.  If  anybody  has  come  in  it  won't  do  t'  let 
'em  get  out  again.  Only  mind  you  don't  shoot  unless  you  really 
have  to.  If  there's  only  two  or  three  of  'em  we'd  better  try  t' 
club  'em  with  our  Winchesters,  so's  not  t'  bring  all  hands  down 
on  us  with  a  rush  before  we  can  get  Rayburn  away." 

As  he  spoke,  we  were  assured  that  some  one  had  entered 
when  the  grating  was  raised  and  had  remained  on  our  side  of 
the  grating  when  it  was  closed  again,  for  we  heard  footsteps  in 
the  room  where  we  ordinarily  lay;  and  then  the  footsteps  drew 
nearer,  as  though  the  unseen  person  were  examining  the  other 
rooms  in  search  of  us,  and  we  knew  that  in  another  moment  or 
two  this  person  would  enter  the  chamber  wherein  we  were.  Ray- 
burn  was  lying  so  quietly  that  it  seemed  as  though  he  had  fallen 
into  a  swoon  again;  and  Pablo,  as  we  could  telf  by  hearing  his 
sobs,  had  betaken  himself  to  the  room  in  which  El  Sabio  was 
tethered  in  search  of  solacing  companionship.  Young  motioned 
me  to  stand  on  one  side  of  the  entrance  to  the  oratory,  and 
himself  stood  on  the  other;  and  thus  we  waited,  while  the  foot 
steps  rapidly  drew  nearer,  in  readiness  most  effectually  to  cut  off 
the  retreat  of  whoever  might  enter  the  room. 

The  man  who  did  enter,  passing  between  us,  was  the  Priest 

248 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        249 

Captain.  As  he  saw  the  wreck  of  the  idol,  and  the  opening  in 
the  wall  behind  where  the  idol  had  stood,  he  uttered  an  exclama 
tion  of  alarm  and  rage;  and  in  the  same  moment  some  instinctive 
dread  of  the  danger  that  menaced  him  caused  him  to  turn  sud 
denly  around.  So,  for  an  instant,  he  confronted  us — and  never 
shall  I  forget  the  look  of  malignant  hatred  that  was  in  his  face 
as  in  that  instant  he  regarded  us,  nor  his  quick  despairing  gesture 
at  sight  of  Young  standing  there  with  his  rifle  raised.  Even 
as  he  opened  his  mouth  to  cry  out,  before  any  sound  came  from 
his  lips,  the  heavy  barrel  of  Young's  rifle  swept  downward,  and 
with  a  groan  he  fell. 

Had  the  blow  struck  fairly  it  could  not  but  have  split  the 
man's  skull  open;  but  he  swerved  aside  a  little  as  the  rifle  came 
down,  and  the  weight  of  the  stroke,  glancing  from  his  head, 
fell  upon  his  shoulder.  In  an  instant,  dropping  the  rifle,  Young 
was  kneeling  on  his  breast  with  a  hand  buried  in  the  flabby  flesh 
of  his  old  throat,  holding  tight-gripped  his  windpipe.  Excepting 
only  Rayburn,  Young  was  the  strongest  man  I  ever  knew 
(though,  to  be  sure,  at  that  time  he  was  weakened  by  his  then 
recent  wound  and  by  the  privations  of  his  imprisonment),  yet  it 
was  all  that  he  could  do  to  hold  that  old  man  down  and  to  main 
tain  his  choking  grasp.  With  a  most  desperate  energy  and  a 
fierce  strength  that  seemed  out  of  all  nature  in  a  creature  so  lean 
and  old  and  shrivelled,  the  Priest  Captain  writhed  and  struggled 
in  his  efforts  to  throw  Young  off,  and  sought  also  to  grasp 
Young's  throat  with  his  long  bony  hands — while  foam  gathered 
on  his  thin  lips,  and  his  withered  brown  face  grew  black  with 
congested  blood,  and  his  black  eyes  protruded  until  the  half  of 
the  eyeballs,  bloody  with  bursting  veins,  showed  around  the 
black,  dilated  pupils.  And  then  his  struggles  slowly  grew  less 
and  less  violent,  his  knotted  muscles  gradually  relaxed,  his  mouth 
fell  open  so  that  his  tongue  lolled  out  hideously,  his  legs  and 
arms  twitched  a  little  spasmodically — and  then  he  lay  quite  still. 

For  a  minute  or  two  longer  Young  maintained  his  grasp. 
Then  rising  to  his  feet,  breathing  heavily,  he  wiped  the  sweat 
from  his  face  as  he  exclaimed,  at  the  same  moment  giving  the 
dead  body  a  vicious  kick :  "You  black  devil,  take  that !  Now  I've 


250        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

squared  accounts  with  you  for  killin'  th'  Padre — and  it's  the 
best  day's  work  I've  ever  done!" 

Though  the  struggle  between  the  two  had  been  a  very  des 
perate  one,  there  had  been  no  noise  about  it.  Through  the  whole 
fight  Rayburn  had  remained  buried  in  his  death-like  stupor;  and 
Pablo,  though  so  near  to  us,  had  heard  no  sound  of  it  at  all. 

"Now,  then,  Professor,"  Young  said,  when  he  had  got  his 
wind  back,  "we've  got  t'  bounce.  Th'  first  thing  t'  do  is  t' 
fasten  that  gratin'  on  our  side,  so's  nobody  can  get  in  here  t' 
bother  us  while  we're  doin'  our  skippin'.  I  guess  we  can  sort 
o'  wedge  it  fast  so's  t'  stand  'em  off  for  an  hour  or  two,  anyway, 
an'  that's  time  enough  to  give  us  a  fair  start." 

"We  can  do  something  better  than  that,  I  think,"  I  said,  as 
we  went  together  towards  the  grating.  "Unless  I  am  much  mis 
taken,  only  the  Priest  Captain  knew  about  this  sliding  door  and 
the  treasure-chamber  beyond  it.  If  we  can  restore  to  their  places 
those  three  plates,  and  can  close  the  door  behind  us,  I  am  per 
suaded  that  so  far  as  pursuit  of  us  is  concerned  we  shall  be  abso 
lutely  safe." 

"Gosh!"  Young  exclaimed.  "D'  you  know,  Professor,  I 
wouldn't  V  given  you  credit  for  havin'  that  much  common- 
sense.  It's  a  big  idea,  that  is,  an'  we'll  try  it  on.  But,  all  th' 
same,  we've  got  t'  make  things  as  sure  as  we  can,  an'  this  little 
job  must  be  attended  to  first." 

As  we  approached  the  grating  we  saw  two  of  the  temple  guard 
standing  outside  of  it,  apparently  waiting  for  the  Priest  Cap 
tain's  return;  and  these  men  looked  at  us  with  such  evident 
suspicion  that  I  feared  for  the  success  of  our  plans.  "Just  talk 
to  'em,"  Young  said,  hurriedly.  "Talk  to  'em  about  th'  last 
election,  or  chicken-coops,  or  anything  you  please,  while  I  take 
a  look  'round  an'  see  how  we're  goin'  t'  get  this  job  done." 

Young  dropped  behind  me,  and  then  aside  and  so  out  of  sight, 
as  I  advanced  to  the  grating  and  spoke  to  the  men,  whose  faces 
somewhat  cleared  as  I  told  them  that  the  Priest  Captain  desired 
that  they  should  wait  there  a  little  longer.  And  then  I  managed 
to  hold  their  interest  for  some  minutes  while  I  spoke  about  the 
devil  that  was  in  El  Sabio,  and  about  other  devils  of  a  like  sort 
whom  I  had  known  in  my  time.  While  I  thus  spoke  I  heard 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        251 

a  little  tinkling  sound,  as  of  metal  striking  against  stone — but  if 
the  soldiers  also  heard  it  they  paid  no  attention  to  it — and  then 
Young  whispered,  "We're  solid  now;  come  on!"  Whereupon  I 
quickly  ended  my  imaginative  discourse  upon  demoniac  donkeys, 
and  with  no  appearance  of  haste  we  walked  away. 

"It  was  just  as  easy  as  rollin'  off  a  log,"  Young  said,  jubilantly. 
"There  was  a  big  gold  peg  stickin'  there  all  ready  t'  slide  into  a 
slot,  so's  t'  hold  th'  gratin'  down,  an'  all  I  had  t'  do  was  t'  slide 
it.  I  guess,  with  a  plug  like  that  holdin'  that  gratin'  fast,  they'll 
need  jacks  t'  open  it.  Th'  only  other  way  t'  start  it'll  be  rammin' 
it  with  a  bit  o'  timber;  but  bustin'  it  in  that  way  '11  take  a  lot 
o'  time,  an*  half  an  hour's  plenty  for  all  we've  got  t'  do.  If 
you're  straight  in  thinkin'  nobody  knows  about  that  slidin'  door 
we're  solid." 

I  felt  very  sure  in  my  own  mind  that  I  was  right  in  believing 
that  only  the  Priest  Captain  had  known  of  this  secret  opening; 
for,  after  him,  the  most  likely  person  to  have  knowledge  of  it 
was  the  keeper  of  the  archives,  and  that  he  was  altogether  igno 
rant  of  it  I  was  well  assured.  Therefore  I  most  cheerfully 
helped  Young,  so  far  as  my  unskilful  hands  could  be  useful,  in 
the  work  of  restoring  the  gold  plates  to  the  places  whence  the 
lightning  had  wrenched  them  loose;  and  when  this  work  was 
done,  so  cleverly  did  Young  manage  it,  there  was  no  possibility 
of  distinguishing  the  door  from  any  other  portion  of  the  wall; 
nor  was  there  then  a  sign  of  any  sort  remaining  to  show  that  by 
the  passage  of  a  thunder-bolt  the  idol  had  been  destroyed. 

As  we  were  finishing  this  piece  of  work  we  heard  the  soldiers 
at  the  grating  calling  to  the  Priest  Captain — at  first  in  low  tones, 
and  then  more  loudly;  and  then  we  heard  them  give  a  yell  to 
gether,  which  convinced  us  that  they  had  tried  to  raise  the  grating 
and  had  found  that  it  was  fastened  down. 

The  ten  minutes  that  followed  was  the  most  exciting  time  that 
ever  I  passed  through.  Notwithstanding  the  secure  fashion  in 
which  the  grating  was  fastened,  we  could  not  but  dread  that  those 
outside  had  knowledge  of  some  means  whereby  it  could  be 
loosened;  and  in  any  event  there  was  no  doubt  but  that  they 
could  force  a  way  in  upon  us  by  beating  it  down.  Therefore  we 
knew  that  there  was  no  safety  for  us  until  we  were  fairly  out  of 


252        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

the  oratory,  and  had  closed  behind  us  the  sliding  door — and  with 
such  difficult  material  to  deal  with  as  Rayburn,  who  still  lay  in 
a  heavy  stupor,  and  Pablo,  whom  sorrow  had  wellnigh 
crazed,  we  found  it  hard  to  make  such  haste  as  the  sharp  exi 
gency  of  our  situation  required.  Pablo,  indeed,  was  so  lost  in 
wonder  at  finding  the  broken  idol,  and  the  dead  body  of  the 
Priest  Captain,  and  a  door  open  in  the  solid  wall,  that  what  little 
remained  of  his  wits  disappeared  entirely;  so  that  we  had  almost 
to  carry  him — while  El  Sabio  most  intelligently  followed  him — 
into  the  treasure-chamber,  and  there  we  left  the  two  together 
while  we  returned  for  Rayburn.  And  as  we  lifted  the  stretcher 
our  hearts  bounded,  for  at  that  instant  there  was  a  tremendous 
crash  at  the  grating;  whereby  we  knew  that  those  without  had 
brought  to  bear  against  it  some  sort  of  a  battering-ram  that  they 
might  beat  it  in. 

"It's  a  close  call,"  Young  said  between  his  teeth;  and  added, 
as  we  rested  the  stretcher  inside  the  passage  while  we  closed 
behind  us  the  sliding  door:  "If  you're  off  your  base,  Professor, 
an'  they  do  know  th'  trick  o'  this  thing,  it  may  be  all  day  with 
us  yet — but  it's  a  comfort  t'  know  that  even  if  they  do  ^finish 
us  we'll  everlastin'ly  salt  'em  first  with  our  guns." 

We  heard  another  great  crash  behind  us,  but  faintly  now  that 
the  sliding  door  was  closed,  as  we  went  onward  into  the  treasure- 
chamber;  and  here  we  heard  the  like  sound  again,  more  clearly, 
through  the  slits  cut  in  the  wall.  As  gently  as  our  haste,  and  the 
awkwardness  of  that  narrow  way  would  permit,  we  lifted  Ray- 
burn  from  the  stretcher,  and  so  carried  him  down  the  short 
flight  of  stairs  beneath  the  upraised  statue  to  the  little  chamber 
that  there  was  hollowed  in  the  rock.  Here  we  laid  him  upon 
the  stretcher  again;  and  then,  without  any  ceremony  whatever, 
we  bundled  Pablo  and  El  Sabio  down  the  hole.  It  was  a  smaller 
aperture,  even,  than  that  through  which  we  had  come  forth  from 
the  Cave  of  the  Dead,  and  how  El  Sabio  was  able  to  condense 
himself  sufficiently  to  get  through  it  will  remain  a  puzzle  to  me 
to  my  dying  day. 

All  this  while  we  could  hear  plainly,  through  the  slits  in  the 
wall,  the  crashing  blows  which  every  minute  or  so  were  delivered 
against  the  grating,  together  with  a  shrill  roar  of  shouts  and 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        253 

yells ;  and  we  knew  that  before  this  vigorous  assault  the  grating 
must  give  way  within  a  very  brief  period,  and  so  let  in  the  whole 
yelping  pack.  If  I  were  right  in  my  belief  that  the  Priest  Cap 
tain  alone  knew  of  the  secret  outlet  to  the  oratory,  we  still  would 
be  safe  enough,  and  could  make  some  preliminary  examination 
of  the  cave  before  we  closed  the  way  behind  us  irrevocably  by 
letting  the  statue  fall  back  into  its  place;  but  if  I  were  mistaken, 
then  there  was  nothing  for  us  but  to  take  the  chance  of  life  and 
death  by  going  on  blindly  into  that  black  cavern,  after  wedging 
fast  the  under  side  of  the  statue  in  such  a  way  that  it  no  longer 
could  be  swung  upon  from  above. 

It  was  most  necessary,  therefore,  that  we  should  see  what 
course  our  enemies  would  take  when  they  came  into  the  oratory 
and  found  it  empty  of  us,  and  the  idol  broken,  and  the  Priest 
Captain  lying  dead  there ;  and,  that  we  might  compass  this  end, 
Young  and  I  returned  into  the  treasure-chamber  and  mounted 
upon  a  ledge  that  seemed  to  have  been  provided  for  a  standing- 
place — whence  we  had  a  clear  view  into  the  oratory  through  the 
slits  in  the  wall.  And  at  the  very  moment  that  we  thus  stationed 
ourselves  there  reverberated  through  those  rock-hewn  chambers 
a  deafening  crash  and  a  jingling  clang  of  metal  and  a  rattle  of 
falling  stone;  and  with  this  came  a  yell  of  triumph  and  a  rush 
of  footsteps — and  then,  in  an  instant,  the  oratory  was  full  of 
soldiers  and  priests,  all  yelling  together  like  so  many  fiends. 

But  upon  this  violent  hubbub  there  fell  a  hush  of  awe  and  won 
der  as  those  who  had  thus  tumultuously  entered  the  oratory  saw 
the  Priest  Captain  lying  dead  amid  the  fragments  of  the  shat 
tered  idol,  and  perceived  that  the  prisoners  who  had  been  shut 
within  these  seemingly  solid  walls  had  vanished  utterly  away; 
and  then  a  sobbing  murmur,  that  presently  swelled  into  moans 
and  cries  of  terror,  arose  from  the  throng;  and  in  a  moment 
more,  seized  by  a  common  impulse,  the  whole  company  bowed 
downward,  in  suppliant  dread  of  the  gods  by  whom  such  direful 
wonders  had  been  wrought. 

Young  gave  a  long  sigh  of  relief,  and  with  a  most  mouth- 
filling  oath  whispered  in  my  ear,  T'They  haven't  tumbled  to  it, 
an'  we're  all  right!" 

As  we  gazed  at  these  terror-stricken  creatures,  a  thought  oc- 


254        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

curred  to  me  on  which  I  promptly  acted.  "Get  both  of  your 
revolvers  pointed  through  that  hole,"  I  whispered  to  Young. 
"Point  high,  so  that  the  balls  will  not  hit  anybody;  and  when  I 
begin  to  shoot  do  you  shoot  also,  and  as  quickly  as  you  can. 
Mind,  you  are  not  to  hit  anybody,"  I  added;  for  I  saw  by  the 
look  on  Young's  face  that  he  longed  to  fire  into  the  crowd  point- 
blank.  For  answer  he  gave  me  a  rather  sulky  nod  of  assent;  but 
I  saw  by  the  way  that  he  held  his  pistols  tjiat  my  order  was 
obeyed.  "Now,"  I  said,  "fire  I" — and  as  rapidly  as  self-acting 
revolvers  would  do  it,  we  poured  twenty-four  shots  through  the 
slits  in  the  wall.  No  doubt  several  people  were  hurt  by  balls 
bounding  back  from  the  rock,  but  I  am  confident  that  nobody 
was  killed. 

When  we  ceased  firing  it  was  impossible  to  see  anything  in 
the  oratory,  because  of  the  dense  cloud  of  sulphurous  smoke 
wherewith  it  was  filled ;  but  such  shrieks  and  yells  of  soul-racking 
terror  as  came  from  beneath  that  black  canopy  I  hope  I  may 
never  hear  again.  I  waited  a  little,  until  this  wild  outburst  had 
somewhat  quieted,  and  then — placing  my  mouth  close  to  one  of 
the  openings  and  speaking  in  a  voice  that  I  tried  to  make  like 
that  of  Fray  Antonio— I  said,  in  deep  and  solemn  tones,  "Behold 
the  vengeance  of  the  strangers'  Godl" 

What  effect  my  words  produced  I  cannot  tell.  Our  firing  must 
have  loosened  a  fragment  of  rock  between  the  gold  plating  that 
lined  the  oratory  and  the  outer  surface  of  the  wall,  and  even  as 
I  spoke  this  fragment  fell.  With  its  fall  the  opening  was  irre 
vocably  closed. 

"That  was  a  boss  dodge,"  said  Young,  as  he  recharged  his 
revolver.  "Those  fellows  '11  just  think  hell's  broke  loose  in 
here,  for  sure ;  and  I  guess  after  they've  onct  fairly  got  outside 
they'll  rather  be  skinned  alive  than  come  back  again.  But  what 
did  you  say  to  'em?  Hearin'  you  talkin'  like  th'  Padre,  that  way, 
gave  me  a  regular  jolt.  Don't  you  think,  though,  maybe  it  was 
a  little  bit  risky  t'  give  ourselves  away?" 

But  when  I  had  repeated  in  English  the  words  which  I  had 
spoken,  Young  very  seriously  shook  hands  with  me.  "Shake  1" 
he  said.  "I've  done  you  injustice,  Professor.  Sometimes  I've 
thought  that  you  was  too  much  asleep  for  your  own  good — but 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        255 

if  anybody  ever  did  anything  more  wide  awake  than  that,  I'd 
like  t'  know  what  he  did  and  who  he  was.  Why,  when  those 
fellows  tell  about  all  that's  been  goin'  on  in  here — about  their 
busted  idol,  an'  their  dead  Priest  Captain,  an'  our  skippin',  an' 
this  row  our  shootin'  has  made,  an'  then  about  th'  Padre's  ghost 
talkin'  to  'em  that  way — it's  bound  t'  give  'em  such  a  jolt  that 
th'  whole  outfit'll  slew  smack  round  an'  be  Christians  right  off !" 
Some  such  notion  as  this  had  been  in  my  own  mind  as  I  exe 
cuted  the  plan  that  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  I  had  formed. 
When,  later,  I  thought  about  it  more  calmly,  I  could  not  but 
regret,  for  Fray  Antonio's  sake,  my  hasty  action;  for  he  would 
have  been  the  very  last  man  to  approve  of  such  stringent  methods 
of  advancing  the  Christian  faith.  If  any  result  came  from  my 
demonstration,  it  certainly  came  through  terror;  and  the  essence 
of  Fray  Antonio's  doctrine,  as  it  was  also  of  his  own  nature,  was 
gentleness  and  love. 


Chapter  XXXVII 

I  GUESS  we're  solid  now,  as  far  as  bein'  bothered  by  those 
scared  devils  goes,"  Young  said,  as  we  stepped  down  from 
the  ledge  of  rock  on  which  we  had  been  standing;  "but  this  ain't 
no  time  t'  take  no  chances,  an'  th'  sooner  we  see  what  show  we've 
got  for  gettin'  anywhere  through  that  cave,  th'  better  it'll 
be.  An'  we've  got  t'  look  after  Rayburn.  He's  closter  t'  handin' 
in  his  checks  t'-day  than  he's  been  at  all.  Just  think  o'  him 
keepin'  still  through  all  that  row,  an'  lettin'  himself  be  yanked 
around  like  a  bag  o'  meal  without  takin'  any  notice  of  it!  But 
there's  just  a  squeal  of  a  chance  for  him  if  we  do  get  clear  away. 
Knowin'  that  he's  safe  '11  do  him  more  good,  even,  than  fresh 
air  an'  sunshine — an'  oh  Lord!  how  good  fresh  air  an'  sunshine 
'11  be,  if  ever  we  do  strike  'em  again!" 

When  we  descended  the  stair-way  again  to  the  little  hollow  in 
the  rock  where  Rayburn  was  lying,  we  found  that  he  still  re 
mained  in  his  dull  stupor  and  took  no  notice  of  our  coming.  Close 
beside  were  Pablo  and  El  Sabio,  huddled  together  for  mutual 
support  in  this  very  trying  passage  of  their  lives.  El  Sabio,  in 
deed,  was  a  most  melancholy  and  dejected  creature,  for  his  short 
commons  and  his  long  confinement  had  taken  the  spirit  out  of 
him  pretty  thoroughly;  but  for  our  purposes  just  then,  when  his 
tractability  was  very  necessary  to  us,  it  was  a  piece  of  good- 
fortune  that  he  had  fallen  into  so  low  a  way.  As  for  Pablo,  the 
boy  was  in  so  dazed  a  condition  that  I  feared  greatly  he  would 
wholly  lose  his  wits. 

There  was  only  a  faint  suggestion  of  light  in  that  deeply  hid 
den  place,  and  Young  struck  a  match  that  he  might  see  to  begin 
his  explorations.  "Well,  I'll  be  shot,"  he  exclaimed,  as  the  wax- 
taper  shed  its  clear  light  around  us,  "if  here  ain't  a  conductor's 
lantern  hangin'  up  all  ready  for  us,  an'  a  can  o'  kerosene  oil!" 
As  he  lighted  the  lantern,  and  the  letters  F.C.C.  showed  clearly 
on  the  glass,  he  added,  in  a  tone  of  still  greater  amazement: 
"Ferro-Carril  Central !  Why,  it  b'longs  t'  one  o'  th'  boys  on 

256 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        257 

th'  Central! — but  how  th'  dickens  did  it  ever  get  here?  An' 
here's  a  lot  of  old  clothes — th'  sort  o'  rags  th'  low-down  Greasers 
wear.  An'  I'm  blest,"  he  went  on,  as  he  picked  up  a  scrap  of 
paper  from  the  floor,  "if  this  ain't  a  Mexican  Central  ticket  from 
Leon  to  Silao !  It's  dated  last  June,  an'  it's  only  punched  once, 
so  't  couldn't  'a'  been  used  all  the  way.  I  say,  Professor,  am  I 
asleep  or  awake?" 

As  I  examined  the  several  articles  which  we  had  come  upon 
so  strangely  in  this  incongruous  place,  a  flood  of  light  was  let 
in  upon  my  mind,  and  with  this  came  also  the  glad  certainty 
that  the  way  before  us  to  freedom  was  open  and  assured.  My 
belief  that  the  Priest  Captain  had  been  in  communication  with 
the  outside  world  no  longer  admitted  of  a  doubt,  for  here  was 
absolute  proof  of  it.  In  an  instant  I  had  connected  all  this  with 
what  the  guardian  of  the  archives  had  told  me  concerning  the 
Priest  Captain's  habit  of  retiring  for  long  periods  of  time  to  one 
of  the  chambers  in  which  we  had  been  imprisoned,  and  the 
whole  matter  was  as  plain  to  me  as  day;  and  I  knew  now,  that 
in  order  to  guard  against  discovery,  he,  or  one  of  his  predeces 
sors,  to  whom  this  secret  way  must  also  have  been  known,  had 
caused  to  be  set  in  place  the  fastening  by  which  the  grating  could 
be  secured  upon  its  inner  side;  which  fastening,  within  that  very 
hour,  had  been  the  means  of  saving  our  lives. 

"Well,"  said  Young,  dryly,  when  I  had  briefly  explained  these 
several  matters,  "I  guess  he  won't  pull  th'  wool  over  nobody's 
eyes  any  more !  An'  now  you  an'  me  '11  do  some  prospectin'. 
We  must  go  back  upstairs,  before  we  pull  out  for  good,  an'  bag 
what  there  is  there  that's  worth  carryin'  off;  but  th'  first  thing 
t'  do  is  t'  get  Rayburn  where  he'll  be  comfortable  an'  safe.  Until 
that's  attended  to  we've  got  t'  be  careful  an'  go  slow;  so  we'll 
rouse  up  this  fool  of  a  Pablo,  an'  get  it  into  his  head  that  if  he 
hears  anybody  comin'  he's  t'  knock  th'  plug  from  under  Mullins 
an'  let  him  down,  an'  then  chock  him  fast  with  a  rock  underneath. 
It's  not  likely  that  anybody  will  come,  an'  even  if  they  do,  I  don't 
think  that  they'll  know  th'  trick  about  Mullins'  tippin',  for  that's 
a  point  that  I'll  bet  a  whole  kag  o'  beer  th'  Priest  Captain  didn't 
give  away  t'  nobody.  I  tell  you,  Professor,  there  wasn't  any 
flies  on  that  old  man,  now  was  there?  He  was  a  wicked  old 


258        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

devil,  an'  I'm  glad  I  did  for  him;  but  he  was  just  an  everlastin' 
keen  one,  an'  a  rustler  from  th'  word  go  I" 

In  the  dazed  condition  in  which  he  then  was,  we  scarcely 
should  have  ventured  to  place  Pablo  in  a  position  of  such  grave 
responsibility  had  there  been  any  likelihood  of  his  being  called 
upon  to  perform  the  duty  with  which  we  charged  him;  but  we 
were  well  satisfied  that  to  the  Priest  Captain  alone  had  been 
known  the  secret  of  the  sliding  door,  and  that,  consequently,  the 
need  for  closing  the  passage  leading  upward  into  the  treasure- 
chamber  would  not  arise.  Without  any  fear  for  Rayburn's 
safety,  therefore,  we  left  him  lying  in  the  little  room  at  the  foot 
of  the  stair-way,  and  thence  went  forth  through  a  cleft  in  the 
rock — that  seemed  to  be  a  natural  crevice,  where  the  mountain 
was  split  apart — and  so  came  into  a  natural  cave  of  such  great 
size  that  the  light  of  the  lantern  was  not  sufficient  to  enable  us 
to  see  its  roof  nor  its  farther  wall.  Save  that  the  well-defined 
path  that  we  followed  was  continuously  steep,  we  did  not  find 
walking  difficult,  for  the  fragments  of  rock  with  which  the  floor 
of  the  cave  everywhere  was  strewn  had  been  lifted  aside  care 
fully,  so  as  to  make  a  smooth  and  easy  way.  And  only  in  one 
place — where  for  a  short  distance  the  path  skirted  the  edge  of 
a  black  gulf,  in  the  depths  of  which  we  could  hear  the  rush  of 
water — was  any  part  of  it  dangerous. 

For  nearly  an  hour  we  went  onward,  all  the  while  steadily 
ascending;  and  then,  as  we  turned  a  corner,  we  saw  a  long  way 
before  us  a  faintly  luminous  haze.  It  was  so  very  faint  that  only 
by  holding  the  lantern  behind  us,  and  then  closing  our  eyes  for 
a  moment,  could  we  assure  ourselves  that  what  we  saw  really 
was  light  at  all;  but  when  we  turned  another  corner,  presently, 
the  light,  though  still  faint,  was  unmistakable;  whereat  Young 
gave  a  whoop  of  joy,  and  we  quickened  our  steps  in  our  eager 
longing  to  behold  the  sunshine  that  we  knew  could  not  be  far 
away.  Suddenly  the  path  dipped  downward,  and  then  another 
turn  brought  us  into  light  so  strong  that  the  lantern  no  longer 
was  needed  to  show  us  where  to  tread ;  and  by  a  common  impulse 
we  gave  a  great  glad  shout  together  and  went  onward  at  a  run ; 
and  so,  running  and  shouting  like  the  crazy  creatures  that  truly 
for  the  time  being  we  were,  we  made  one  turn  more,  and  then 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        259 

beheld  before  us,  reaching  away  broadly  and  openly  in  a  fashion 
to  give  one  a  sense  of  most  glorious  freedom,  a  vastly  wide  plain, 
over  which  everywhere  the  blessed  sunshine  blazed  full  and 
strong.  As  we  stood  together  in  the  mouth  of  the  cave  for  a 
moment  in  silence — for  no  words  seemed  strong  enough  to 
express  the  bursting  gladness  that  was  in  our  hearts — two  short 
blasts  of  a  whistle,  wafted  upward  on  the  light  breeze  that  was 
blowing  towards  us  from  the  plain,  sounded  very  faintly  but 
clearly  in  our  ears.  Young  started  as  he  heard  this  sound,  and 
as  he  turned  towards  me  he  held  out  his  hand  and  said,  in  a 
voice  that  was  husky  and  tremulous,  "Professor,  that's  a  loco 
motive  whistle,  an'  th'  d n  fool  is — is  whistlin*  'down 

brakes'!"  And  in  these  curiously  chosen,  yet  not  unmeaning 
words,  did  we  celebrate  our  deliverance. 

When  we  returned  to  Rayburn — and  as  we  now  knew  the 
way,  and  as  almost  the  whole  of  it  was  down-hill,  our  return  was 
accomplished  rapidly — some  of  the  joyous  strength  that  we  had 
gained  seemed  to  be  imparted  to  him.  He  opened  his  eyes  as  we 
stooped  over  him,  and  there  seemed  to  be  more  life  in  them  than 
there  had  been  through  all  that  day. 

"Rouse  up,  old  man!"  Young  cried  cheerily.  "We've  struck 
th'  trail  out  o'  this  cussed  hole  at  last,  an'  we're  goin'  t'  hike  you 
right  along  t'  where  you'll  get  some  of  God's  sunshine  again, 
an'  some  air  that's  fit  for  a  white  man  t'  breathe" ;  which  words 
brought  still  more  light  into  Rayburn's  eyes,  and  a  little  color 
came  into  his  pale  cheeks  as  we  told  him  of  the  open  way  that 
we  had  found  to  light  and  life. 

"Where's  the  Padre?"  he  asked,  as  we  together  raised  the 
stretcher,  while  Pablo,  holding  the  lantern  and  leading  El  Sabio, 
went  on  ahead  of  us.  Fortunately  Rayburn  could  not  see 
Young's  face  as  he  answered:  "Th'  Padre's — well,  th'  Padre's 
just  gone  on  up  th'  line.  You've  got  t'  hold  your  jaw,  Rayburn. 
You  ain't  fit  t'  talk;  an'  while  we're  packin'  you  along  we  can't 
talk  either.  Come  on,  Professor;  and  you,  Pablo,"  he  added, 
in  his  jerky  Spanish.  "Be  careful  with  that  lamp  or  I'll  break 
the  head  of  you!" 

Although  a  good  third  of  his  flesh  had  wasted  away,  Rayburn 
would  have  been  a  heavy  load  for  us  to  carry  over  level  ground, 


26o        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

even  had  we  been  hale  and  strong.  Worn  as  we  then  were  by 
our  prison-life,  we  found  carrying  him  up  that  long  steep  path 
in  the  heart  of  the  mountain  a  weary  work  that  only  the  hope 
and  joy  that  strengthened  us  enabled  us  to  accomplish.  As  it 
was,  we  went  so  slowly,  and  made  so  many  halts  for  rest,  that 
the  sun  had  sunk  almost  to  the  level  of  the  distant  mountains, 
wherewith  that  great  plain  was  bordered  to  the  westward,  when 
at  last  our  toilsome  journey  was  at  an  end.  But  we  thought 
nothing  of  the  heaviness  of  our  labor  as  we  saw  the  glad  look 
that  came  into  his  face  when  he  gazed  out  over  that  broad  ex 
panse  of  sunlit  landscape,  and  snuffed  eagerly  the  sweet  fresh  air, 
and  so  felt  his  soul  grow  light  within  him  as  he  realized  that 
he  once  more  was  safe  and  free. 

In  the  mouth  of  the  cave — within  its  shelter,  yet  where  he 
could  see  out  freely,  and  so  have  constantly  in  his  mind  the  com 
forting  thought  of  his  deliverance — we  made  a  bed  for  him  of 
soft  pine-branches,  which  some  near-by  trees  gave  us;  and  we 
took  care  that  this  couch  should  be  so  thick  and  so  evenly  laid 
that  he  would  lie  easily  upon  it;  for  we  knew  that  many  days, 
perhaps  even  weeks,  must  pass  before  we  could  venture  to  put 
so  heavy  a  strain  upon  his  strength  as  would  come  when  we  car 
ried  him  down  that  rough  mountain-side,  and  so  began  our  jour 
ney  towards  home. 

Fortunately,  a  little  spring  came  out  from  the  rock,  clear 
and  cool,  just  inside  the  cave ;  and  game  was  so  abundant  on  that 
mountain-side  that  Young  came  back  presently  from  a  foraging 
expedition  with  half  a  dozen  codornices,  that  he  had  come  so 
close  to  as  to  shoot  with  his  revolver,  and  a  jack-rabbit  that  he 
actually  had  caught  with  his  hands  as  it  jumped  up  almost  be 
neath  his  feet;  which  excellent  fare  made  a  most  satisfying  supper 
for  all  of  us ;  and  eating  it  so  added  to  Rayburn's  strength — as 
we  could  tell  by  the  fuller  tones  of  his  voice,  and  by  his  being 
able  to  move  a  little  on  his  bed  without  our  helping  him — as  to 
rouse  in  us  a  warm  hope  that  the  death  that  seemed  so  near  to 
him  might  yet  be  thrust  away.  Our  chief  concern,  lest  the  shock 
that  would  come  to  him  of  knowing  it  should  fairly  kill  him, 
was  to  hide  from  him  for  the  present  the  knowledge  that  Fray 
Antonio  was  dead ;  and  to  compass  this  end  we  plumply  told  him 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        261 

tHe  flat-footed  lie  that  the  monk  had  gone  on  in  search  of  some 
town  whence  he  might  bring  back  horses  and  supplies;  and  so, 
for  a  time,  we  laid  at  rest  his  douSts. 

In  his  own  original  way,  also,  Young  trieoT  to  put  heart  into 
him.     "You  see,  old  man,"  he  said,  "you've  just  got  t'  pull 

through.     Think  how  d d  ashamed  o*  yourself  you'd  feel 

after  you  was  dead  when  you  had  t'  tell  all  th'  folks  in  heaven 
that  you  was  killed  by  nothin'  better'n  a  mis'rable  chump  of  an 
Injun  1" 


Chapter  XXXVIII 

WHETHER  or  not  Young  had  a  good  effect  upon  Ray- 
burn,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say;  but  it  is  certain  that  he 
slept  well  that  night — his  first  good  night's  sleep  for  many  weeks 
— and  that  when  morning  came  he  was  so  much  stronger  and 
brighter  as  to  fill  us  with  a  still  more  earnest  hope  that  he  was 
well  started  on  the  way  to  recovery. 

Young  quickly  brought  in  some  birds  for  our  breakfast,  and 
when  the  meal  was  finished  he  took  me  aside  and  said:  "Now, 
Professor,  let's  me  an'  you  go  back  t'  that  hole  an'  bring  away  all 
there  is  there  that's  worth  carryin'.  It's  not  much,  I  guess,  but 
it's  better'n  nothin'.  It  just  makes  me  sick  t'  think  of  all  that 
gold,  that  ud  'a'  made  our  everlastin'  fortunes  if  we'd  only  been 
able  t'  pack  it  along  with  us.  There  was  millions  an'  millions 
there,  I  s'pose — an'  it'll  never  do  us  any  more  good  than  if  we'd 
never  seen  it  at  alll"  and  as  Young  spoke  he  heaved  a  very 
melancholy  sigh.  "But  we  may  as  well  grab  all  we  can  get," 
he  went  on,  more  cheerfully.  "There  was  a  lot  o'  gold  boxes 
an'  jugs  in  th'  room  where  Mullins  is;  an'  maybe  there's  some- 
thin'  that's  worth  havin'  in  all  them  little  pots.  Let's  go  back 
an'  see,  anyway.  Rayburn's  lookin'  almost  all  right  this  morn- 
in' ;  and  Pablo's  got  his  wits  back  now,  an'  can  give  him  anything 
he  wants." 

For  my  own  part  I  did  not  desire,  because  of  their  money 
value,  any  of  the  articles  which  I  had  seen  in  the  treasure-cham 
ber;  but  I  did  very  earnestly  long  to  possess  myself  of  that  most 
curious  arbalest,  and  I  desired  also  to  examine  carefully — be 
cause  of  the  discoveries  of  great  archaeological  value  which  I 
hoped  to  make — the  contents  of  the  gold  boxes  and  vases  and 
earthen  jars.  Therefore,  Rayburn  having  expressed  his  entire 
willingness  that  we  should  leave  him,  I  assented  readily  to 
Young's  proposition;  whereupon  Young  lighted  the  lantern  and 
we  set  off. 

As  we  entered  again  the  treasure-chamber  there  was  within 

262 


AS  WE  ENTERED  AGAIN  THE  TREASURE-CHAMBER  THERE  WAS  WITHIN 
ME  A  STRONG  FEELING  OF  AWE 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        263 

me  a  strong  feeling  of  awe.  During  our  hurried  passage  through 
it,  the  imminent  danger  in  which  we  were,  and  then  the  excite 
ment  of  the  scene  in  the  oratory,  and  then  the  joyfulness  of  our 
finding  a  way  of  escape,  had  prevented  me  from  realizing  how 
wonderful  was  the  deposit  that  this  room  contained;  a  deposit 
that  certainly  had  lain  there  for  not  less  than  a  thousand  years. 
Which  strange  reflections,  now  that  my  mind  was  free  to  enter 
tain  them  and  to  dwell  upon  them,  aroused  within  me  a  feeling  of 
such  reverent  wonder  that  I  hesitated  for  some  moments  before 
I  could  bring  myself  to  disturb  what  thus  through  so  long  a  sweep 
of  ages  had  remained  sacredly  inviolate. 

But  reverence,  as  he  himself  would  have  said,  was  not  Young's 
strongest  hold;  in  truth,  I  am  persuaded  that  there  was  not  an 
atom  of  it  in  his  entire  composition;  and  as  I  stood  hesitating 
beside  the  statue  of  Chac-Mool  he  briskly  called  to  me:  "Come 
right  along,  Professor ;  there  ain't  nobody  t'  stop  us  now.  We've 
got  th'  drop,  you  might  say,  on  th'  whole  outfit,  an'  we  can  do 
just  as  we  blame  please.  This  looks  like  a  badly  kept  drug  store, 
don't  it?"  he  went  on,  "with  all  these  pots  an'  boxes  an'  little  jars 
stuck  round  on  th'  shelves.  Well,  here  goes  t'  see  what's  in  'em : 
not  much  o'  nothin',  I  guess ;  but  then  it  might  be  di'monds,  an' 
that  just  would  be  gay  I" 

As  Young  spoke  he  thrust  his  hand  into  one  of  the  earthen 
jars,  and  thereby  set  flying  such  a  cloud  of  dust  that  for  some 
seconds  his  violent  sneezing  prevented  him  from  examining  the 
small  object  that  he  had  brought  forth  from  the  jar  and  held 
in  his  hand;  and  when  he  did  examine  this  object  an  expression 
of  intense  disgust  appeared  upon  his  face,  and  he  exclaimed, 
indignantly,  "Why,  it's  nothin'  but  a  fool  arrow-head!" 

I  could  not  but  laugh  at  Young  as  I  took  the  arrow-head  from 
him.  For  my  purposes,  this  beautifully  carved  piece  of  obsidian 
was  far  more  precious  than  a  diamond  would  have  been;  and  I 
tried — quite  unsuccessfully,  however — to  arouse  his  interest  in 
this  proof  of  the  high  degree  of  skill  to  which  the  prehistoric 
races  of  America  had  attained  in  the  manipulation  of  an  exceed 
ingly  hard  yet  delicate  variety  of  stone;  and  I  added  that  not 
less  interesting  was  the  proof  thus  afforded  us  of  the  great  value 
which  these  same  races  attached  to  implements  of  war. 


264        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

"Oh,  come  off  with  your  prehistoric  races,  Professor!"  he 
growled.  "A  whole  car-load  o'  rubbish  like  this  wouldn't  be 
worth  a  nickel  t'  anybody  but  a  scientific  crank  like  you.  If  this 
is  th'  sort  o'  stuff  that  that  old  king  o'  yours  thought  was  worth 
hidin',  I  guess  he  must  'a'  been  off  his  head.  But  that  pot  may 
'a'  got  in  by  mistake.  Before  I  get  too  much  down  on  him  I'll 
give  him  another  show."  With  which  words,  but  cautiously,  that 
the  dust  might  not  be  disturbed,  he  thrust  his  hand  into  another 
jar,  and  was  mightily  resentful  upon  finding  that  what  he 
brought  forth  from  it  was  only  the  head  of  a  lance.  However, 
the  determination  to  give  King  Chaltzantzin  a  chance  to  prove 
his  sanity,  together  with  the  hope  that  something  of  real  value 
might  be  found,  led  him  to  continue  his  investigations,  and  he 
presently  had  examined  all  the  jars  ranged  on  two  sides  of  the 
room ;  and  his  grumbling  curses  increased  constantly  in  vigor  as 
jar  after  jar  yielded  only  arrow-heads,  and  lance-heads,  and 
chisel-shaped  pieces  of  obsidian,  that  I  perceived  must  have  been 
intended  for  the  making  of  the  cutting  edges  of  the  maccuahuitl, 
or  Aztec  sword;  but,  for  my  part,  all  of  these  things  filled  me 
with  the  liveliest  pleasure  as  I  took  them  from  Young  and 
attentively  examined  them;  for  the  delicate  and  perfect  work 
manship  that  they  exhibited  showed  them  to  have  been  made  by 
a  people  that  had  reached  the  highest  development  of  the  Stone 
Age. 

"This  business  is  gettin'  worse,  instead  o'  better,"  Young  said, 
gloomily,  as  he  began  his  search  on  the  third  side  of  the  room 
by  opening  one  of  the  small  gold  boxes.  "The  stuff  in  here  is 
nothin'  but  a  mean  sort  o'  wrapping-paper  with  pictures  on  it — 
like  that  old  map  o'  yours  that  got  us  started  on  this  tomfoolin' 
treasure-hunt.  I  s'pose  yoitll  just  have  a  fit  over  it  1"  And  as  I 
uttered  an  eager  cry  of  delight,  and  bent  over  this  casket  that 
contained  such  inestimable  riches,  he  gave  a  sniff  of  contempt, 
and  added:  "There,  I  thought  so.  You  think  more  o'  that  rotten 
old  stuff  than  you  would  o'  gold  dollars.  Well,  there's  no  ac- 
countin'  for  tastes,  and  it  takes  all  sorts  o'  people  t'  make  th' 
world."  But  I  paid  no  attention  to  him  as  I  rapidly  glanced  over 
these  priceless  manuscripts;  and  then  had  my  cup  of  happiness 
filled  absolutely  to  overflowing  by  the  glad  discovery  that  in 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        265 

every  one  of  the  gold  boxes,  of  which  there  were  nine  in  all, 
treasures  of  a  like  sort  were  stored.  As  the  full  significance  of 
my  discovery  burst  upon  me,  my  joy  and  the  excitement  of  my 
splendid  triumph  so  moved  me  that  my  hands  trembled  as  I  held 
these  precious  manuscripts,  and  I  no  longer  could  see  clearly  the 
painted  characters  because  of  the  tears  of  happiness  which  filled 
my  eyes. 

Young,  however,  whose  longing  was  only  for  material  treas 
ure,  continued  his  investigations  in  anything  but  a  thankful  mood. 
"There  ain't  no  doubt  of  it  now,"  he  said  presently  in  a  most 
melancholy  tone.  "That  old  king  o'  yours  must  V  been  just  as 
crazy  as  a  loon.  Look  here :  this  thing  ain't  even  a  fool  arrow 
head  ;  it's  nothin'  but  a  bit  o'  green  glass  I  I  reckon  it's  part  o' 
th'  bottom  of  a  porter-bottle.  Nice  sort  o'  stuff  this  is  t'  call 
treasure,  an'  t'  take  such  an  all-fired  lot  o'  trouble  t'  hide  away ! 
It's  tough,  gettin'  left  this  way;  but  it  wouldn't  begin  t'  be  as 
tough  as  't  is  if  't  wasn't  for  all  them  car-loads  an'  car-loads  o' 
gold  right  clost  by  us  here  that  we  might  'a'  got  away  with  as 
easy  as  rollin'  off  a  log  if  we'd  only  ketched  on  to  this  back-door 
racket  in  time.  An'  see  here,  Professor,"  he  went  on  in  a  very 
earnest  tone,  "I  don't  believe  there's  anybody  in  there  now;  why 
shouldn't  we  just  chance  things  a  little  an'  go  back  an'  get  some 
of  it?  We've  got  our  guns ;  an'  even  if  we  do  strike  a  crowd  too 
big  for  us  t'  tackle,  an'  have  t'  run  for  it,  we  wonTt  be  no  worse 
off  'an  we  are  now.  Come,  let's  try  it  on !" 

While  Young  spoke  I  had  been  looking  closely  at  the  object 
that  so  violently  had  excited  his  indignation,  and  instead  of 
replying  to  him  I  asked,  "Are  there  any  more  pieces  of  that 
porter-bottle  in  the  jar?" 

"It's  full  of  'em,"  he  answered  with  a  contemptuous  brevity. 

"And  the  next?" 

"That's  full  of  'em  too.  All  th'  jars  on  this  side  o'  th'  room 
are  full  of  'em,"  he  added,  as  he  rapidly  thrust  his  hand  into  one 
after  another — and  so  set  the  dust  to  flying  that  we  both  fell 
to  sneezing  as  though  we  would  sneeze  our  heads  off.  "Oh  come 
along,  Professor:  what's  th'  use  o'  foolin'  over  this  rubbish; 


266        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

let's  go  for  th'  stuff  that's  good  for  its  weight  in  spot  cash  every 
time!" 

"Wait  till  we  see  what  is  in  these  gold  vases  over  here,"  I  an 
swered,  turning  as  I  spoke  to  the  side  of  the  room  that  as  yet  we 
had  not  examined. 

"What's  th'  good?"  he  asked,  sulkily.  But  he  lifted  down 
one  of  the  vases,  and  with  his  thumb  and  finger  brought  forth 
from  it  a  little  round  black  ball.  "Worse  an'  worse,"  he  said, 
as  he  handed  the  ball  to  me.  "We've  got  down  t'  what  looks 
like  lumps  o'  shoemaker's  wax  now.  That's  about  th'  sickest 
lookin'  thing  t'  call  itself  treasure  I  ever  did  seel" 

It  did  not  seem  to  me  probable  that  the  little  ball  was  shoe 
maker's  wax;  but  in  order  to  settle  this  point  experimentally  I 
cut  into  it  with  my  penknife.  Under  the  gummy  exterior  I  found 
a  layer  of  cotton-wool,  and  enclosed  in  this  a  hard  substance 
about  the  size  of  a  hazel-nut.  While  I  was  making  this  exam 
ination,  Young  investigated  into  the  contents  of  the  remaining 
vases — which  themselves  were  exceedingly  interesting,  being 
made  of  hammered  gold  and  most  curiously  engraved. 

"They're  no  good,"  he  said,  "except  I  s'pose  th'  mugs  must  be 
worth  somethin'.  Shoemaker's  wax  in  'em  all  I  It's  worse  'an 
th'  porter-bottles — for  what's  th'  use  6*  shoemaker's  wax  t1 
folks  who  don't  rightly  know  what  a  shoe  is?  Come  along,  I 
say,  Professor,  an'  let's  have  a  whack  at  them  piles  o'  gold.  If 
we  don't  tackle  'em  we  might  just  as  well  never  have  come  on  this 
treasure-hunt  at  all.  Some  o'  the  stuff  in  here's  worth  havin' — 
th'  gold  mugs  an'  boxes,  an'  that  old  gold  bow-gun  that  you're 
so  busted  about — but  what  does  th'  whole  of  it  amount  to,  any 
way,  when  you  come  t'  divide  it  up  among  four  men  an'  a  jack 
ass?  I  guess  even  th'  jackass  ud  turn  up  his  nose  at  it  if  he 
knowed  what  a  lot  more  there  was  that  was  t'  be  had  for  just 
grabbin'  it  an'  packin'  it  along.  It's  somethin',  I  s'pose,  that 
we've  pulled  through  without  losin'  our  hair;  but  we  have  pulled 
through  all  right,  an'  now  we  want  t'  make  this  business  pay; 
an'  unless  we  go  for  that  gold  this  business  won't  'a'  paid  worth 
a  cuss — an'  instead  o'  comin'  out  on  top  we'll  be  left  th'  very 
worst  kind!" 

As   Young   was   delivered    of   this    dismal    remonstrance    I 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        267 

handed  him  the  small  object  that  I  had  extracted  from  the  pitch- 
coated  ball.  "Before  you  make  up  your  mind  that  we  are  likely 
to  be  'left,'  as  you  term  it,  suppose  you  look  at  this,"  I  said. 

He  held  out  his  hand  carelessly;  but  as  he  saw  what  I  had 
placed  in  it  his  expression  suddenly  changed,  and  he  burst  forth 
excitedly:  "Great  Scott!  where  did  this  come  from?  Why — 
why,  Professor,  it  looks  like  it  was  a  pearl;  but  if  't  truly  is  one 
it's  about  th'  bustin'est  biggest  one  that  Godamighty  ever  made  I 
Do  you  truly  size  it  up  for  a  pearl  yourself?" 

"Most  assuredly,"  I  answered.  "And  it  is  a  fair  assumption, 
I  think,  that  there  is  a  pearl  in  each  one  of  all  these  little  pitch- 
covered  balls.  As  to  what  you  called  bits  of  green  glass,  they 
are  neither  more  nor  less  than  extraordinarily  fine  emeralds;  I 
should  say  that  the  smallest  of  them  must  be  worth  more  dollars 
than  you  could  carry  at  a  single  load.  Of  course,  all  the  emer 
alds  and  pearls  together  are  not  worth  a  single  one  of  these 
manuscripts" — here  Young  gave  a  sceptical  grunt — "but  in  the 
way  of  vulgar  material  riches  I  am  confident  that  the  value 
of  what  is  in  these  jars  is  greater  than  that  of  all  the  gold  to 
gether  that  we  saw  in  the  Valley  of  Aztlan.  Without  a  shadow 
of  doubt,  you  and  I  at  this  moment  are  standing  in  the  midst 
of  the  most  enormous  treasure  that  ever  has  been  brought  to 
gether  since  the  world  was  madel" 

"Honest  Injun,  Professor?" 

"Certainly,"  I  answered;  "and  if  this  is  your  notion  of  get 
ting  'left'  on  a  treasure-hunt,"  I  continued,  "it  assuredly  is  not 
mine." 

"Left?"  Young  repeated  after  me,  while  his  eyes  ranged 
exultantly  over  the  rows  of  jars  in  which  this  vast  wealth  was 
contained.  "Well,  I  should  smile  I  I  take  it  all  back  about  that 
old  king  bein'  crazy.  He  was  just  as  level-headed  as  George 
Washington  an'  Dan'l  Webster  rolled  into  one.  These  pots  full 
of  arrow-heads  an'  such  stuff  was  only  one  of  his  little  jokes, 
showin'  that  he  must  'a'  been  a  good-natured,  comical  old  cuss, 
th'  kind  I  always  did  like,  anyway.  Left?  Not  much  we  ain't 
left!  We've  just  everlastin'ly  got  there  with  all  four  feet  to 
onct!  Professor,  shake!" 


Epilogue 


S  I  write  these  final  lines  I  feel  a  sorrowful  regret,  which, 
in  a  way,  is  akin  to  the  regret  that  weighed  upon  me  when 
Young  and  I,  having  carried  into  the  cave  the  contents  of  the 
treasure-chamber,  removed  the  prop  wherewith  was  upheld  the 
swinging  statue,  and  so  suffered  to  fall  into  place  again  that 
ponderous  mass  of  stone.  From  below,  where  we  were,  lifting 
it  was  impossible;  and  by  heaping  fragments  of  rock  under  the 
forward  end  of  it  we  presently  made  it  equally  immovable  from 
above.  Thus  for  outlet  or  for  inlet  that  way  was  irrevocably 
barred. 

From  time  to  time,  as  my  narrative  has  grown  beneath  my 
hand,  I  have  read  aloud  to  my  fellow-adventurers  what  I  have 
written,  and  have  received  from  them  suggestions  in  accordance 
with  which  it  has  been  corrected  or  amended  in  its  several  parts ; 
and  it  is  but  just  to  add,  in  this  connection,  that  in  every  case 
where  I  have  referred  to  the  loyalty  to  our  common  interests, 
and  to  the  splendid  bravery  which  Rayburn  and  Young  con 
stantly  exhibited  throughout  that  trying  time,  I  have  been  com 
pelled  to  exert  the  whole  of  my  authority  over  them  in  order 
to  win  their  grumbling  permission  that  my  words  might  stand. 
Even  Pablo — for  the  love  that  there  was  between  this  boy  and 
me  was  far  too  strong  to  permit  me  to  leave  him  behind  in 
Mexico,  and  we  are  like  to  live  together  as  long  as  we  live  at 
all — has  taken  issue  with  me  concerning  what  I  have  written  of 
his  steadfast  faithfulness  and  courage;  and  this  on  the  ground 
that  he  could  not  possibly  be  anything  but  faithful  to  those  whom 
he  loved,  and  that  it  is  only  natural  for  a  man  to  fight  for  his 
own  life  and  for  the  lives  of  his  friends.  In  thus  applying  the. 
word  hombre  to  himself  Pablo  spoke  a  little  doubtfully,  as 
though  he  feared  that  I  might  question  his  right  to  it;  yet  did  he 
roll  it  so  relishingly  under  his  tongue,  and  so  well  had  he  proved 
his  manliness,  that  I  suffered  it  to  pass. 

268 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        269 

In  point  of  fact,  the  only  member  of  our  party  who  has  ac 
cepted  my  just  tribute  of  praise  with  entire  equanimity  has  been 
El  Sabio.  It  was  Pablo's  notion,  of  course,  that  El  Sabio  should 
hear  what  I  had  written  about  him.  "Not  the  whole  of  it,  you 
know,  senor,"  the  boy  said,  earnestly;  "for  some  of  what  you 
have  written — while  I  know  that  it  is  true,  and  therefore  must 
be  told — would  hurt  his  tender  heart.  It  was  not  his  fault — the 
angel! — that  he  gave  us  so  much  trouble  when  we  swung  him 
across  the  canon.  No;  we  will  hide  all  such  unpleasant  parts 
of  the  book  from  him;  but  we  will  read  to  him  what  you  have 
said  concerning  his  beauty  and  his  wisdom — and,  surely,  you 
might  have  said  of  these  a  great  deal  more ;  and  also  about  his 
gallant  fight  with  the  priests,  when,  all  alone,  he  slew  so  many 
of  them  with  his  heels.  And  it  would  have  been  fairer  to  El 
Sabio,  senor,"  Pablo  added,  a  little  reproachfully,  as  we  walked 
out  together  to  the  paddock  in  which  the  ass,  grown  to  be  very 
fat,  was  living  a  life  of  most  royaT  ease,  "had  you  told  in  the  book 
how  well  he  served  us  in  bringing  all  the  treasure,  in  many  weary 
journeys,  out  through  that  dismal  cave;  anH  also  how  carefully 
he  carried  the  Senor  Rayburn  down  that  steep  mountain-side, 
and  so  to  the  little  town  beside  the  railway,  and  never  hurt  his 
wound." 

However,  El  Sabio  did  not  seem  to  notice  these  omissions 
from  my  narrative,  though  he  certainly  did  exhibit  a  most  cu 
rious  air  of  interest  and  understanding  as  I  read  to  him  those 
laudatory  portions  of  it  which  Pablo  desired  that  he  should 
hear.  According  to  Pablo's  understanding  of"  his  language,  he 
even  thanked  me  for  speaking  well  of  him;  for  when  the  read 
ing  was  ended  he  thrust  his  nose  far  forward,  laid  his  long  ears 
back  upon  his  neck,  planted  his  little  legs  firmly,  and  as  he  erected 
in  triumph  his  scrag  of  a  tail,  he  uttered  a  most  thunderous  bray. 
"And  now,  Wise  One,"  Pablo  said,  tenderly,  as  he  enfolded  the 
head  of  the  ass  in  his  arms  and  hugged  it  to  his  breast,  "thou 
knowest  that  we  not  only  love  thee  for  thy  goodness  and  thy 
wisdom,  but  that  we  also  honor  thee  for  thy  noble  deeds." 

Rayburn's  fancy  was  mightily  tickled  by  this  performance 
in  which  El  Sabio  and  Pablo  and  I  had  engaged — though  Young 


270        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

evidently  thought  it  but  another  proof  of  the  addled  state  of  my 
brains — when  I  told  about  it  that  evening  as  we  all  sat  smoking 
comfortably  in  my  library  before  the  open  fire.  This  was  to  be 
our  last  meeting  for  some  time  to  come;  for  Rayburn  was  to 
start  the  next  day  for  Idaho  to  look  after  some  mining  matters, 
and  Young  suddenly  had  decided  that  he  would  accompany 
him.  In  truth,  Young  was  rather  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do 
with  himself;  for  his  plan  for  buying  the  Old  Colony  Railroad, 
in  order  to  be  in  a  position  to  discharge  its  superintendent,  had 
been  abandoned.  "I'd  like  t'  do  it,  of  course,"  he  said.  "Bounc- 
in'  that  chump  th'  same  way  that  he  bounced  me  would  do  me  a 
lot  o'  good;  but  I've  made  up  my  mind  it  wouldn't  be  th'  square 
thing  t'  do,  considerin'  that  if  he  hadn't  bounced  me  I'd  still  be 
foolin'  round  on  top  o'  freight-cars,  in  all  sorts  o'  weather,  han- 
dlin'  brakes.  So  I've  let  up  on  him,  an'  he  can  stay.  What  I  want 
now  is  t'  do  some  good  with  this  all-fired  big  pile  o'  money  that 
I've  got.  That's  one  reason  why  I'm  goin'  out  with  Rayburn 
t'  Idaho.  Right  straight  along  from  here  t'  Boise  City  I  mean 
t'  set  up  drinks  for  every  railroader  I  meet.  That'll  be  doin' 
good,  for  sure." 

Rayburn  and  I  laughed  a  little  at  this  odd  method  for  bene 
fiting  humanity  that  Young  had  got  hold  of ;  and  then  Rayburn's 
face  grew  grave  as  he  said:  "Well,  we're  doing  a  little  good,  I 
suppose,  in  putting  that  old  church  in  Morelia  in  good  shape. 
I'm  glad  you  thought  of  that,  Professor.  I  don't  suppose  that 
anything  we  could  have  done  would  have  pleased  the  Padre 
more  than  to  have  that  church,  that  he  loved  so  much,  made 
as  handsome  as  money  can  make  it  all  the  way  through." 

"Yes,"  Young  added,  "an*  I  guess  th'  Professor's  head  was 
level  in  havin'  all  th'  new  stuff  that  we've  put  in  it  made  t'  look 
like  't  was  about  two  hundred  years  old.  I  did  kick  at  that  at 
first,  I'll  allow.  But  th'  Padre  was  as  keen  as  th'  Professor, 
a'most,  for  old-fashioned  things;  an'  so  I  guess  we've  done  that 
job  just  about  as  he'd  'a'  done  it  himself.  It  makes  me  feel 
queer,  though,  puttin'  up  money  on  a  Catholic  church  that  way; 
an'  when  I  was  tellin'  an  old  aunt  o'  mine,  down  t'  Milton,  about 
it,  she  just  riz  up  an'  rared.  An'  she  didn't  feel  a  bit  better 
when  I  told  her  that  if  I  thought  it  ud  please  th'  Padre  t'  have  me 


THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE        271 

do  it,  I'd  go  smack  off  t'  Rome  an'  shake  hands  with  th'  Pope. 
And  I  truly  would  do  that  very  same  thing,"  Young  continued, 
earnestly,  while  his  voice  trembled  a  little,  "for  this  side  o' 
heaven  I  never  expect  t'  meet  anybody  that's  so  near  t'  bein'  a 
first-class  angel  as  th'  Padre  was.  An'  when  I  think  how  he 
saved  our  mis'rable  lives  for  us,  as  he  surely  did,  by  givin'  away 
his  own — that  was  worth  more'n  all  of  ours  put  together,  an'  ten 
times  over — I  don't  care  a  continental  what  his  religious  politics 
was;  an'  I'll  punch  th'  head  of  anybody  who  don't  say  that  he 
was  th'  pluckiest  an'  th'  best  man  that  ever  lived!" 

Pablo  had  caught  the  word  Padre  in  Young's  talk,  and  as  the 
lad  looked  up  from  the  corner  in  which  he  was  sitting,  I  saw 
that  his  eyes  were  full  of  tears;  Rayburn's  eyes  also  had  an 
odd  glistening  look  about  them  as  he  turned  away  suddenly,  and 
emptied  the  ashes  from  his  pipe  into  the  fire;  and  I  know  that 
I  could  not  see  very  clearly  just  then,  as  very  tender,  yet  very 
poignant  memories  surged  suddenly  into  my  heart. 

And  when  the  others  left  me — as  they  did  presently,  for  we 
could  not  fall  again  into  commonplace  talk — I  bade  Pablo  be  off 
to  bed,  and  so  sat  there  for  a  while  alone. 

In  that  still  season  of  darkness  I  seemed  to  live  again  through 
all  the  time  that  Fray  Antonio  and  I  had  been  together — from 
the  moment  when  I  first  caught  sight  of  him,  as  he  knelt  before 
the  crucifix  in  the  sacristy,  to  my  last  sad  look  at  the  dead  body 
whence  his  soul  had  sped  back  again  to  God. 

As  my  thoughts  dwelt  upon  this  most  loving  and  most  tender 
companionship,  the  like  of  which  for  perfectness  I  am  confident 
was  never  known,  and  then  upon  the  cruel  violence  that  brought 
it  to  an  end,  so  searching  a  pain  went  through  my  soul  that  I 
knew  that  either  it  must  cease  or  I  must  die  of  it  in  a  very  little 
while.  And  then  was  borne  in  upon  me  the  strong  conviction — • 
and  so  has  it  since  been  always,  when  thus  my  thoughts  have 
been  engaged — that  because  of  my  very  love  for  Fray  Antonio 
must  I  rejoice  that  he  had  died  so  savage  a  death;  believing 
confidently  that  what  he  prayed  for  when  I  first  found  him  in 
the  Christian  church  of  San  Francisco  was,  in  truth,  that  very 
crown  of  martyrdom  that  God  granted  to  him  when  at  last  I 
lost  him  in  the  heathen  city  of  Colhuacan.  And  with  the  press- 


272        THE  AZTEC  TREASURE  HOUSE 

ing  in  upon  me  thus  strangely  of  this  strange  thought,  it  seemed 
as  though  he  himself  said  again  to  me,  "I  go  to  win  the  life, 
glorious  and  eternal,  into  which  neither  death  nor  sin  nor  sorrow 


evermore  can  come." 


THE   END 


v  NEW  YORK. 

PuMlrlim/  of  BOOK  J  aod  if 
HAS  PI  R  j  ^  *  GA  I  IN* 


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